? about turnips and winter greens.

[Missme]

OK I tilled one of my plots last week getn ready for the usual Sept planting of turnips and winter greens. I still had winter greens growing from last year, looked healthy and survived the 96+ deg days we have had last couple weeks. My question is why cant I plant this alot earlier say, July or August, when it tends to rain more often than in Sept. or even in June? Will it not grow and just be waitn on a frost to turn sweet? Reason I ask is last 2 years Ive had to plant twice for lack of rain in Sept. and the turkey eat all the seed.

 

[Football Hunter]

I tried em one year,they never messed with em till after the season

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Lot of folks plant brassicas in July in order to allow them to get really large before first frost. Ive been thinking of doing it myself, as long as the rain is there. Some folks even Spring plant them but then you would have to manage them the whole
Summer.

 

[Scud]

I've planted turnips for the last 5 years and the years we got to plant in August we had better plants and the deer seemed to use them more but not until after some frosts.

 

[BSK]

My question is why cant I plant this alot earlier say, July or August, when it tends to rain more often than in Sept.

You can. But as others pointed out, the deer still won't hit them hard until the first hard frost. But if you want more mature plants by that time, yes you can plant earlier.

In the far North and Northeast, turnips are used more as a summer crop for deer. They are planted in late spring and grown through the summer.

 

[Boone 58]

A friend of mine planted a couple of acres of turnips last fall in sept and to his dismay the deer never touched them until about the second week of Jan 2011 and then they train wrecked them like hogs in a corn patch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HenryCohunter]

OK so this sorta starts my line of questioning that me and my hunting buddy have been thinking on ... what can we plant in late august or september that the deer will eat during bow and muzzle loading season?

 

[BSK]

OK so this sorta starts my line of questioning that me and my hunting buddy have been thinking on ... what can we plant in late august or september that the deer will eat during bow and muzzle loading season?

Depends on the plant. Plants in the turnip family won't become highly attractive until after the first freeze no matter when they were planted.

But the only limiter in fall food plot planting dates is soil moisture. If soil moisture is adequate, fall crops can be planted in August and they will be more mature come peak usage, starting (generally) in mid-October. The problem is September and October are normally our driest months. Food plots planted during wet weather in August may be killed by dry conditions in September and early October. It's all a guessing game. And now you see why it's so hard to make a living as a farmer!