Brassicas/Turnips

[TrailWatcher]

Will the deer eat them? They have mowed down the tops but really have not done much with the Turnips. Below is a pic of some that they could not get too the tops....and a updated field pic

 

[jmb4wd]

Man.... Those turnips have gotten big!! Looking good!

 

[Football Hunter]

Ive seen some limited use out of them,could be that its not gotten cold enough to make em sweet,till this weekend.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

It seems to always take a few years for the deer to start using them on any place Ive planted them around here.

 

[BSK]

As smstone22 pointed out, first-year utlization of turnips is usually much lower than in future years. The deer literally have to learn they can eat them. But in future years, especially during hard cold-snaps, don't be shocked to have deer literally dig the turnips out of the ground to eat them.

 

[woodchuckc]

The first year I planted turnips (6 or 7 years ago), the deer browsed them some but there was enough foliage left for them to make turnips. Every year after that, they have been browsed so heavily that they never got the chance to make turnips bigger than golf balls.

 

[hard county]

My deer bite the purple tops of the turnips that stick out of the ground off but don't dig them. I think that is probably because I have very compact soil.

 

[BSK]

My deer bite the purple tops of the turnips that stick out of the ground off but don't dig them. I think that is probably because I have very compact soil.

That's pretty common in thin or compacted soil plots. Because the turnip can't grow down into the ground, they grow up out of the ground, and deer eat those portions sticking out of the ground (once they've eaten all the tops).

 

[Pic IN the Casa]

This is my first year to plant them and I got a very low consumption rate.