FOOD PLOTS

We received about 4 1/2 inches at the club between Saturday and Monday, hopefully we will see some green this weekend... can't believe the season is upon us. GOOD LUCK Everyone !

Yep. This heat will get it greenin up for sure.

Man, my husband and I planted Friday morning and you can see green already!! Best of luck this season!

Friday morning!



Today..

Today..

Friday morning...me pulling the cultipacker.

Today!


Today!

Looking good!

If you planted cool season crops, like the rest of us do, the heat isn't helping at all. Rain yes, heat no.

this was a week after we planted. Now all my food plots look like golf courses

Some good looking spots!!

Went and checked my two plots. Look a little thin, but lots of good growth. Winter peas taking off! I thinkif the rape will come on it will fill in good. Planted Sept 29 What say ye?

Left I'd say shade is your enemy there. Maybe top sew some clover

Top sew some rye they are really thin.

This

I felt they were a little thin too. Ok, school me on food plot seeding rates. So I planted buckbuster fall mix. Wheat, oats, rye, crimson clover, and three different kinds of clover. Bag says 50 lbs per acre. Those plots are about 0.25 acres each.

How much seed mix do you usually put out??

x2. I just top sowed any bare spots in mine with winter wheat, forage oats and Marshall rye grass.

They were covered in tracks

Should be plenty of seed may have just been covered to deep.

75-100lbs/acre

I always put out more seed than recommended. Wheat is cheap and oats aren't too bad, especially if you're not planting all that much acreage.

I doubt I covered it too much. Disced, disced in fert, broadcast seed, then drug it with gate of trailer.

I see the rape and clover coming up,maybe it is just slow. Or maybe the roots haven’t found the fert yet. Better than I had last year.

How long does it take rape to get nice big leaves? This plot is only 2.5 weeks old. Am I expecting too much too soon?

Around November 15 or so, gonna hit it with ammonia nitrate

Uh, yes. Give it a month or two. They typically won't hit the rape until after the first frost when it sweetens up.

I would top seed with more rye if I were you.

Ok. Thx

We planted turnips and radishes in our plots. Within two weeks, ours had be leaves. We didn't get a rain on our plots until about the 2nd or 3rd week after planting.

I agree on top sowing some more seed. Good luck.

Here is how they look today. Shady one definitely looks a bit thin

Doesn't look like they've munched on that top one much.

Deer hit rape and radish as soon as it starts getting good size leaves on them, at my place, but turnips are a different story. They need a frost to sweeten them up.

Rapeseed, Chicory and Clover all looking good, and growing well, as are the red ripper cowpeas. They have been growing taller, but I suspect that is nearing an end. I didn't expect them to really stay as long as they did, most reviews of them suggest in small plots they get mowed down. I'm pretty well covered up with acorns, I can't step anywhere without stepping on them, so that may have a lot to do with it.

With last night's rain the oats and winter peas should get a good start on germination, and hopefully we'll be green all the way past Christmas. I'll probably throw out another round of BFO in the thin spots before the next rain. Will add pictures next time.

I'm not sure that I have gained anything from planting the red-ripper cowpeas, other than they look cool growing in the food plot. Very few of my pictures are of deer actually eating in the cowpeas, they're on the clover/chicory. I think that attempting to grow them in the summer would only shade out most anything else I'd try to grow.

So is it too late to top sow any seed? Especially with the first frost/freeze forecast for this weekend?

no

I have a spot that I decided I would like to plant this late also. What would be best this late? Not necessarily looking for the quickest production but will attract and hold them better in Dec and Jan.

i just planted my plots this weekend, but i only hunt it 3-4 times till the middle of jan. But i'm in south bama too.

Cereal rye will actively grow as long as temps are above 34 degree's.

mines kicking ass , mine is as thick as the hair on a dogs back . we aint planting for seed , we planting for forage .

i did try somting different this time , i planted half bob oats and half coker oats . i'll see if they like one over the other .

I planted my fields a week or so ago. Did not have time to fertilize. I'm in Montgomery Co. Might have rain early Sunday morning. I will be outa town (daughter just had our 2nd grandbaby, a boy!) Can I spread fertilizer on Friday, then hopefully get rained on Sunday...will it burn the grass shoots that are coming up?

Just make sure the dew has evaporated so none of the fertilizer granules sticks to the grass.

might burn it but wont hurt it . i'd just spreed some 34-0-0 now.

give it kick in the a$$

So, I spread fertilizer yesterday...13-13-13. Shoots were coming up, maybe 3-4" tall...hopefully this will give it a boost. Looked kinda thin to me, hopefully it will take off. At my local feed store, guy said once they get 8"-10" hit em with the ammonium nitrate...will do that as well...maybe right before Christmas.

If you have a decent deer density, I doubt they will ever get 8-10" tall.

lol yep , i always put a wire mesh cage in the field to see how it growing .

Fayette County

10-4. I hunt in west jefferson and the terrain looks a lot alike. We have lots of gaswells and roads

Good point on the deer density. My farm is only 30 acres. Surrounded by fields...there are woods, but, the deer do have to travel to get to my property. Only owned it a year and a half, so still learning it. I'm in a good area, Mathews, AL, just about at the Bullock Co line...time will tell...

great area