Can chufas be grown in partial shade (50/50)? I have a really good fertile sandy field on the river, but it's partial shade. Clover grows great in it, but wasn't sure about chufas. Thanks

Also a follow up question. I planted a patch last year that grew okay, but the turkeys never found them. Do I need to disc them or will they grow okay if left alone?

They for sure do better in full sun, but it's probably worth a try.

I can't imagine that you have many turkeys if they didn't find a chufa patch. Every patch I've ever grown has been found immediately, but I've heard others say they had same experience as you. You definitely need to disk them now if you want to regenerate the patch. Disk it now, then again in 3-4 weeks, then a third time and add your fertilizer then. Good luck!

PCP or anyone else that might have some experience with this, have you ever planted chufa on a heavy clay soil? Everything I have read says they will grow but the turkeys just have a hard time digging them up. Would you disk a little before turkey season or would I be wasting my time. One place I can turkey hunt has a big powerline and I could plant several acres in chufa but I don't want to make that kind of investment if they can't get them out of the ground.

I've grown chufas in heavy clay and have a friend who has grown them in blackbelt clay. The turkeys will dig them out if they make, no matter how hard the ground might be.

I have 2 gardens; one is too wet and the upper one is badly eroded from the old days and nothing much but subsoil. It didn't grow vegetables well so I planted half of it in chufas last summer. We are talking .3 of an acre at most. The plants looked good until the drought hit, and I didn't think I made more than a 10% crop.

There aren't many turkeys in the area, and I'm 99% sure they had never seen a chufa, but they found them quickly. During February and early March, there was a flock of 3 hens and a gobbler that ate in that plot every afternoon. That cold front hit and the day before the season they didn't come. I wasn't around the next few days, but I saw them out there that Sunday, and never saw them again.

I've seen a couple of hens around, but I guess the gobbler got killed. But with all that feeding on a lousy crop on a small acreage, there are still plenty of chufas sprouting. I've disked them once and saw a hen that same day in them. I guess she is nesting, so I put out some wheat for her.

Chufas will draw turkeys on small areas with low populations. It's worth a try to grow them anywhere.

I don't have many turkeys, but know they are a few around at times. I may have to feed them this year and try and get them started on the chufas. I'm going to try them one more time.

Plant your chufa late around the first of July. It will still have time to mature and you will have less weeds. The turkey will feed on acorns in the fall and start hitting the chufa patches in winter and spring. You can spread corn on the patch after deer season and the turkey will find it and be there during turkey season.