4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
Has anyone ever planted them in a mixture with radish and turnips? Wondering if it would work as a nurse crop?
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Deer love sugar beets
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Bill
Administrator
I'm no expert at all. But before spending the $ I did read up. Everything I read and the advice of Nitro says no. Beets of any kind don't like competition and they are very slow to start to grow. Based on what I've read (not what I know first hand). If I were to mix brassica's it would be long after the beets were growing and only if there are thin spots.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
This is what I just planted. I split a food plot that is about an acre, and split in in a third and planted this mix. Deer Creek has beet seed mixed with PTT, Kahle, and Chard. I bought it with out my reading glasses to see what it all had in it. It is suppose to be enough for 1/3 acre. I also added fertilizer to the plot as needed.
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4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
I will. I know 1/3 acre isn't much, but there will be 2/3 acre of turnips and radishes planted next to it, and there is a half acre of clover within 50 yards of it, and another half acre plus plot of turnips and radishes about 200 yards away. Along with several mature oaks.
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Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
This is what I just planted. I split a food plot that is about an acre, and split in in a third and planted this mix. Deer Creek has beet seed mixed with PTT, Kahle, and Chard. I bought it with out my reading glasses to see what it all had in it. It is suppose to be enough for 1/3 acre. I also added fertilizer to the plot as needed.
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Boy, with all the advice here and other sites about no competing plants, interested to see your results.
With only a 1/3 acre, what kind of sunlight exposure do you have?
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
I honestly didn't read the label of ingredients before I bought it. If I would have known it was a mixture, I wouldn't have bought it. Figuring Deer Creek seed is a well known company, they must know what they are doing.
The food plot is about an acre in size, I just planted the seed in 1/3 of the food plot. But to answer your question, it is mostly direct sun. But it needs some work. With only an acre plot, the border trees tend to grow into he food plot. During mid summer it gets really good sun, but early and late summer when the sun is to the south sky, it is worse, and most of the trees on that side are oaks, and I don't want to remove them. They drop a lot of acorns onto my food plot in the fall.
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The food plot is about an acre in size, I just planted the seed in 1/3 of the food plot. But to answer your question, it is mostly direct sun. But it needs some work. With only an acre plot, the border trees tend to grow into he food plot. During mid summer it gets really good sun, but early and late summer when the sun is to the south sky, it is worse, and most of the trees on that side are oaks, and I don't want to remove them. They drop a lot of acorns onto my food plot in the fall.
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S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
That is enough seed for an acre. Im guessing bulbs will be small because of how close the plants will be to each other. To me it looks like a good mix with the exception of the PTT. PTT are a short season crop where the rest are a long season plant.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
The bag said it is 3 pounds, and the recommended seeding rate is 9 pounds per acre.
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Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
Full sun is what the sugar beets need.
I stay away from bag mixes, never know what you are going to get. They are often overpriced compared to what you can buy elsewhere. Once was looking at cold weather bag mixes and they said "RYE". Upon closer inspection it was rye grass not winter rye.
Good luck, let us know how it turns out.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
An experienced sugar beet grower told me to plant 2-3 # of pure sugar beet seed per acre braodcast. If you Plant 9# of that mix it will put you around 4# of sugar beet seed. I dont think it will be a problem but like i said the bulbs will be much smaller because they will be so close together.
The guy I got my seed from said you want about one seed per square foot. I'm not sure what that comes out to but doesnt sound like much.
I'm not trying to put you down, I am also in my first year at trying SB. This is just what I was told by others that have had been planting them for a while. Without being told what I learned I would have done like almost anyone would have done and just planted the rec. pounds/acre the bag stated.
I guess time will tell. Mine aren't out of the ground yet so I have no idea if the amount of seed i put down was to little or to much yet. I'll post an update on mine as time passes. Hopefully others will too.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
I appreciate all info. I have never planted sugar beets. I went in the store to get turnips and radishes, and I wasn't wearing my reading glasses, so fine print did not exist. After reading it when I got to my cabin, I then saw it was a mixture. I would t have bought it if I would have known it was already a mixture, because my initial thought was to just mix it in with the turnips and radishes, until some of you guys said beets do not like competition. But it was a mixture already, which is competition. That is why I planted it in its own 1/3 acre spot, that has the most amount of sun in my food plot. If it doesn't work out, I will disc it up and plant something else.
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Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
I planted mine on June 11th, would like to spray emerging weeds with Gly on June 23rd ... that would be 11 days.
We have had temps in the mid to upper 70's (a few 80 deg F days) and pretty good rain.
Any comments from anyone on spraying at this point?
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
My fall back on portions of a plot that does not produce the way I would like is broadcast white & red clover in early Aug then broadcast WR in early Sept. Both should be ready for grazing by mid Oct and provide excellent green food in early spring.
Bill
Administrator
I'd spray if I could and there are weeds showing. I doubt that in 11 days a single beet is showing. Ed's directions were to spray at 3 and 6 weeks post planting. At 3 weeks the beets can't be more than tiny sprouts so gly must not bother them at any stage.
Bill
Administrator
Heading in on about the 4th. Maybe you should come up for a beer and we can shake our heads at my dead beets :).
Cleth would smoke foxtail!
Powder
5 year old buck +
I planted sugar beets for the first time this spring. I'll admit, I didn't prepare the field as properly as I should have! :) I went back and checked it this weekend for the first time. Are these pictures of beets?
Or are these weeds? I'd like spray it with something to clean it up but I'm not sure with what. There at a lot of ferns too. If these are beets, I got a decent germination and it would be worth spraying. If not, I still have time to roundup the whole works and get something else in but I'd need to get moving.
Or are these weeds? I'd like spray it with something to clean it up but I'm not sure with what. There at a lot of ferns too. If these are beets, I got a decent germination and it would be worth spraying. If not, I still have time to roundup the whole works and get something else in but I'd need to get moving.
