What's the most unusual food plot plant?

[BSK]

So what's the most unusual plant you've planted in food plots? Did the deer like it?

I would say the most unusual plant I've planted in food plots was sweet potatoes. And the deer went crazy over them. If they weren't so difficult to plant on a large scale...

 

[buckdead]

i planted some sunflowers just for the deer after seeing em eat the few i planted in my garden down to the ground. i planted a acre and they ate it all before in got waste high.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

I dont think I have ever planted anything off the wall really. Something I have never really thought about. Hmmmm....

 

[richmanbarbeque]

This could be a very informative thread.

Don't have much to offer except recently I have left several things in my plot. I have looked at several things deer are eating and have left them. I have called them "garbage plots" but have learned that deer have plenty to eat if sun is allowed to reach the ground. I will hopefully experiment with various plots even more in the future. Not sure if sweet potatoes will be on my list of items to plant if so it would be hard to keep me out of the plot. Ha!

 

[SALTMAN]

Put in Eagle seed for the first time . mixed it with corn that a farmer neighbor had left over from last year. Planted the corn too thick , but it might be a real winner. The deer are eating the edges, and this seed does what its reps say . it spreads out and sprouts new growth when its munched on , then in the thick part of the corn stalks that they have not gotten to , the beans are about 5 ft tall. They may be protected for a while from the deer and the frost and provide winter forage, Also planted sugar beets for the first time ( love the guys at the shows that give you leftover samples ) They are about 4-5 inches tall now , will see how they do .
Mixed in a few turnip seeds with every food plot this year also . Trying to see what them critters prefer, Don't mind spending the $$ if it works well.

 

[Beekeeper]

I put out a field of buckwheat for my Bees a couple of years ago. Killed 5 or 6 deer out of that field that season. only one good buck.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

not real unusual dont guess but radishes are my most "far out" thing.

 

[BigGav]

Shame they don't make a small fast growing tree that sheds acorns like the dickens. Hard to beat Mother Nature's original food plot.

 

[BSK]

not real unusual dont guess but radishes are my most "far out" thing.

Did the deer eat them?

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Well around here, I've seen deer eat up a cotton field after its been picked! They eat the cotton seed!

Some "Deer and cattle feed" contain cotton seed in the mixture. Deer really like it.

 

[ferg]

Had deer pulling buckwheat plants out by the roots this summer - They ignored winter rye last winter - and I'm trending towards a clover/rye mix for this fall/winter -

Right now - the BW has died off and the weends have taken over, some as tall as 8 feet - but nothing in there right now seems to grab their attention as they walk by -

ferg....

 

[woodchuckc]

I like to try a wide variety of different vegetables in my garden every year, so I end up with a lot of half full seed packets that accumulate over several years. A couple of years ago when I was putting in my spring plots, I just mixed up all of the seeds and broadcast them at one end of my plot. Some of what I remember was a bunch of different sweet corn, yellow squash, zucchini, purple hull peas, cowpeas, english peas, lima beans, string beans, cucumbers, several types of melons, pumpkins, okra, hot and mild peppers, radishes, lettuce, mustard greens, beets, tomatoes, and some other stuff too. They ate everything that came up except the tomato plants and some of the corn (once the corn got more than about a 8-10" tall they wouldn't touch it).

 

[phil333]

BSK, we planted 50 sweet potato plants earlier this year and the deer ate all the plants up pretty quick. Did you put any cages around yours? Did you run a disc over them at some point to make it easier for the deer to find them?

 

[TNTomtaker01]

Asparagus if i spelled that right.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

not real unusual dont guess but radishes are my most "far out" thing.

Did the deer eat them?

Yes starting hitting them good last year about mid-November. I just tested last year with like 1/2 pound of seed but planted 5 pounds this year.

 

[Football Hunter]

not real unusual dont guess but radishes are my most "far out" thing.

Did the deer eat them?

Yes starting hitting them good last year about mid-November. I just tested last year with like 1/2 pound of seed but planted 5 pounds this year.

Might have to try that

 

[Stoner]

I planted some iron clay peas and lima beans and due to neglect had a garden full of Beggar Lice a.k.a. Stick-Tights and the deer have slaughter the Beggar Lice Weed.

 

[Football Hunter]

I planted some iron clay peas and lima beans and due to neglect had a garden full of Beggar Lice a.k.a. Stick-Tights and the deer have slaughter the Beggar Lice Weed.

wITH YOUR NAME,i THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA SAY SOMETHING ELSE :)

 

[Stoner]

I planted some iron clay peas and lima beans and due to neglect had a garden full of Beggar Lice a.k.a. Stick-Tights and the deer have slaughter the Beggar Lice Weed.

wITH YOUR NAME,i THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA SAY SOMETHING ELSE :)

No, the name Stoner really does not fit my personally. I have never smoked or used any kind of drugs even though I grew up in the middle of that era. I will stick with growing my Beggar Lice Weed.

 

[deerchaser007]

not real unusual dont guess but radishes are my most "far out" thing.

Did the deer eat them?

Yes starting hitting them good last year about mid-November. I just tested last year with like 1/2 pound of seed but planted 5 pounds this year.

Steven,. keep me updated on your radish planting. Have heard good things from others on them but never tried it.
What is your ph level and what type of soil you have them planted in? In a bottom or a ridgetop?

 

[PickettSFHunter]

not real unusual dont guess but radishes are my most "far out" thing.

Did the deer eat them?

Yes starting hitting them good last year about mid-November. I just tested last year with like 1/2 pound of seed but planted 5 pounds this year.

Steven,. keep me updated on your radish planting. Have heard good things from others on them but never tried it.
What is your ph level and what type of soil you have them planted in? In a bottom or a ridgetop?

I planted about 3/4 of 5 pounds in a bottom old garden spot, deep soil, pH 6.8. Then put the rest on a ridgetop plot, pH 6.5, not as heavy of a soil,traces of sand, with a clay underlayer about 4 inches down. Just kind of experimenting to see what does best.

 

[holstonangler]

My neighbor had a problem with deer eating his pumpkins. They would start a little hole and it would gradually get bigger until they could get thier head in and then they could get their head through and then they would eat out all the seeds and leave the shell.

 

[Football Hunter]

I planted some iron clay peas and lima beans and due to neglect had a garden full of Beggar Lice a.k.a. Stick-Tights and the deer have slaughter the Beggar Lice Weed.

wITH YOUR NAME,i THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA SAY SOMETHING ELSE :)

No, the name Stoner really does not fit my personally. I have never smoked or used any kind of drugs even though I grew up in the middle of that era. I will stick with growing my Beggar Lice Weed.

OK,JK any way

 

[deerchaser007]

not real unusual dont guess but radishes are my most "far out" thing.

Did the deer eat them?

Yes starting hitting them good last year about mid-November. I just tested last year with like 1/2 pound of seed but planted 5 pounds this year.

Steven,. keep me updated on your radish planting. Have heard good things from others on them but never tried it.
What is your ph level and what type of soil you have them planted in? In a bottom or a ridgetop?

I planted about 3/4 of 5 pounds in a bottom old garden spot, deep soil, pH 6.8. Then put the rest on a ridgetop plot, pH 6.5, not as heavy of a soil,traces of sand, with a clay underlayer about 4 inches down. Just kind of experimenting to see what does best.

Did you mix them with something else??

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Yes little bit of wheat.

 

[deerchaser007]

Cool!! Keep me updated on the usage and how well they grow in each of the different soils and terrain. I may seriously plant some next year if you give a good update.

Wonder how prefered they would be as compared to other stuff like turnips,kale or rape??

 

[PickettSFHunter]

I wondered that too. I have DER, PTT and radishes so Ill try to see what is preferred. Radish is the most expensive but we will see if its worth it. They are supposed to add quite a bit of organic matter to the soil and the root is supposed to help break up compacted soil

 

[deerchaser007]

Thanks steven.


Sorry BSK,... kind of got off topic alittle talking about radishes. The most unusual thing i planted since i started plotting has been velvet beans. You don't hear alot about them,.. but if you have a fall/winter plot that don't produce a spring forage ,. velvet beans are a good plant for spring forage (planted in march). Then,.. a follow up of a summer forage such as soybeans around the last of may, first of june. Deer love them!! BUT,.. for me it has been more effective to fall plant a mix that produces a spring forage also, instead of planting for spring only.

 

[BSK]

Radishes are in the turnip family. In fact all of the kales, rapes, turnips, etc. are in the same broad family of plants.

I really recommend mixing these plants instead of just one variety. Back when we were testing cultivars of brassicas for Biologic I had 20 different cultivars planted in plots in several repetitions of each cultivar (each variety planted several times in narrow strips across the same fields). I found that deer would hit one cultivar for a short period of time ( a week or two) and then move on to a different cultivar. Apparently, each variety would be "tasty" for a short period, and each variety had a different time period when it was most tasty. That's why mixtures are so good; they provide different plants that will be at peak attractiveness at different times.

The only "non-mixture" I recommend, and then only if someone has the needed acreage, is large plots of forage soybeans in spring-summer. Forage soybeans are darn hard to beat in summer, as long as you have the acreage.