And deer arent touching them. Mixed a cup of 7 top turnips in my rye seed when i sewed it. Glad i did because the turnips thrived and the wheat and rye died out in heat and drought. Our deer density is through the roof, the corn fields 200 yards away have deer crawling through them. But they seen to be avoiding the turnips. Here is a pic before the 1.5" rain we got a few days ago, they sre even taller and thicker now. Will they eventually eat them? They need to frost? Im used to wheat and rye and this yr it was the turnip green show.
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Food Plots Amazing plots of turnip greens….
- Thread starter redblood
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BSK
Well-Known Member
Hasn't been cold enough to turn them sweet.
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
Deer here didn't seem to like them. They ate the greens for a couple days after the first hard frost, then left them to rot in the ground. Tried planting them a couple times and same results.
If they are new to the deer it might take some time for them to eat them. Frost turns the starch to sugar and they will like them more plus their food choices will be less by then. I mixed 15-20 lbs with my rye,wheat , oats and they are coming on well. Can't imagine them not being tore up later in season.
What they said ^^^
Hard frost they will begin on the greens
Late winter they will come back for the turnips
They commonly hit our radish greens first then turnips later
Hard frost they will begin on the greens
Late winter they will come back for the turnips
They commonly hit our radish greens first then turnips later
Sounds good. Gonna overseed rye into them this week. These are 7 too so they dont make alot of greens
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Close to you. I have found they ignore brassicas early, which is great so they can get established.
Mid Nov, they destroy the ecotill radishes... like pick every one out of the small plots. In large fields where they can't wipe them out, they feed heavily on the greens, then go to the roots mid Dec.
When it comes to turnips, they ignore them until mid Dec, then start working on the greens, but don't like them nearly as much as the radishes. They eat the bulbs in Jan/Feb.
Mid Nov, they destroy the ecotill radishes... like pick every one out of the small plots. In large fields where they can't wipe them out, they feed heavily on the greens, then go to the roots mid Dec.
When it comes to turnips, they ignore them until mid Dec, then start working on the greens, but don't like them nearly as much as the radishes. They eat the bulbs in Jan/Feb.
BSK
Well-Known Member
I've seen deer actually dig the turnips out of the ground to eat them.
deerhunter10
Well-Known Member
We planted turnips and radishes for years. They ate them but nothing like other people's experiences. We have a high deer density to. We took them out of our mixes.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Same. No longer plant them. Now I focus in easy-to-grow plants deer like. K.I.S.S.
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
BigAl
Well-Known Member
I planted them twice in my backyard food plot. The deer didn't seem to touch them.
I read it takes a few years for deer to see them as food. I had a beautiful field of turnips once but they never touched them
Dont think i will plant them again…..for anything but me
I have mixed them in my plots for the last few years. They look real good again this year but I have never seen the deer just absolutely hammer them any of the years . I have seen them eat them but it is usually later on in the season. I don't believe that I will do them anymore, they just happened to be in the mix I have used .
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
You guys are missing the point.
Who cares if they don't eat them. They are the single best plant to improve your no till plots in the winter. Aerating soils after the deep 12 to 18 in tubers rot out in the spring (radishes much more so than turnips), plus pulling nutrients from deep from the subsoil sequestered them in the roots making those nutrients available to next years crops.
The only negative to them is in a very mild winter the turnips could bolt and produce seed that would compete with summer plantings until the heat kills them.
Who cares if they don't eat them. They are the single best plant to improve your no till plots in the winter. Aerating soils after the deep 12 to 18 in tubers rot out in the spring (radishes much more so than turnips), plus pulling nutrients from deep from the subsoil sequestered them in the roots making those nutrients available to next years crops.
The only negative to them is in a very mild winter the turnips could bolt and produce seed that would compete with summer plantings until the heat kills them.
deerhunter10
Well-Known Member
This is the reason we planted them. But if deer don't eat them they are taking up space plus plant date on them sucks. For sure some benefits but we chisel plow every 5ish years for compaction issues and while the nutrients are for benefits but on paper you can't see them in a soil sample, Or we couldn't. While some of that won't show up on paper, they still have a terrible plant date. That's just our thought process around it.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
If you are mechanically turning the soil, no need for them. I'm 100% no till, and I need something to break up compaction from tractor driving over the ground. I don't worry about a special planting date for them, just throw 5lbs of seed into my mix per acre. I do think they improve organic matter in the soil over time, but probably not to the extent that larger plants do.
