Deer eating my brassicas

[hilltopper]

I have a 1/4 acre brassica plot that I sprayed today with "Deer Pro." I use it around the house to keep the deer off the plants in the yard. It works great in the yard, so I diluted the product a little more and walked around the brassica plot just using the 2 g hand sprayer. I didn't hit everything but it only took a few minutes and I hit the perimeter the most. We'll see if it keeps the deer from hammering the plot right away.

 

[WTNUT]

Another option to consider is spending a bit more on some hybrid brassicas like T-Raptor, Hunter, Winfred, and some others. Many of the hybrids have been bred for multiple grazings (cattle or sheep) and therefore show better regrowth after grazing than do ptts and forage radish.

T-Raptor is fantastic. The only mix I plant theses days is Groundhog radishes with T-Raptor and Barkant. Got a little bit of everything for everyone and based upon prior testing by me, MY deer seem to prefer these three over all others. Disclaimer: YOUR deer may hate them :)


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[powdefinger]

I have a 1/4 acre brassica plot that I sprayed today with "Deer Pro." I use it around the house to keep the deer off the plants in the yard. It works great in the yard, so I diluted the product a little more and walked around the brassica plot just using the 2 g hand sprayer. I didn't hit everything but it only took a few minutes and I hit the perimeter the most. We'll see if it keeps the deer from hammering the plot right away.

did the spray work ??????

 

[yoderjac]

I've had the same problem with pure brassica stands...for whatever reason, some deer eat the tops right away and in other parts of the country, they hardly touch them at all. I would really like to grow bulbs that deer can eat during the winter, but my deer have no sense of deferred gratification! :)

We tend to use brassica as though we are talking about one plant. It is a very wide range. Deer hit my GHR (not a pure stand) as soon as it produces forage. They don't touch PTT forage until much later and usually after a frost. The exception is mast crop failure years when they hammer everything in my plots.

 

[MN_Chestnut]

I have heard that if you spray them with cheap crop oil, it can deter the deer for a few weeks.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

They have been in my plot all day and night. I will be up making a presence in the area this weekend building a deer stand, and doing some tsi. Maybe it will deter them a bit. It looks as though my land is getting some good rain right now, which is much needed.


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[Steve Oehlenschlager]

The deer have started even eating my sugar beets which is a month earlier than normal. The grazing is manageable but still annoying. Normally they don't touch them til the last week in September at the earliest. Judging by all the deer in my fields the past few weeks when I have been doing work. I think it's the bugs driving them out of the woods and they are just eating what ever there is to eat. The mosquitos are out of this world bad now from the 18 inches of rain in the last 6 weeks or so. It's not just does and fawns in the fields but younger bucks. My cousin who live next door to my farm saw 6 different bucks in 10 minutes the other day out and about.

 

[tootall71]

We probably don't have the deer density that you guys do in WI, but last winter I frost seeded clover into my plot and had a beautiful stand of clover for the deer to graze on all summer. When I went to put in my brassicas, I left 1/4 of a 1 acre plot in clover so the deer had something to graze on while the brassicas grow. The clover tolerates heavy browse pretty well(especially the ladino), and they have been hitting it hard and leaving the brassicas so far. I also sprayed a foliar fertilizer on the plot last weekend to help speed growth. It was the first time I did this as a "trial run", and it seems to working pretty well.

 

[Stump]

Interested in that foliar fertilizer you used...where did you get it?

 

[4wanderingeyes]

It is nice to see the growth is keeping up with the browse, but they are in there non stop, this last round of rain I am hoping will allow some decent growth to the bulbs. These are about 4 weeks old since planting. They look decent with all the browse.

 

[hilltopper]

did the spray work ??????

Well so far so good. I don't see evidence of browsing. They usually hit anything that germinates right away. Got to get an exclusion cage up ASAP.

 

[tootall71]

Interested in that foliar fertilizer you used...where did you get it?

I used Monty's Seed Starter/Foliar. http://www.montysplantfood.com/products/4-15-12/

It's basically like Miracle Gro. They sell it at a seed store near our property. Antler King's Jolt is also one I used last year and it worked pretty well.

 

[broom_JM]

We tend to use brassica as though we are talking about one plant. It is a very wide range. Deer hit my GHR (not a pure stand) as soon as it produces forage. They don't touch PTT forage until much later and usually after a frost. The exception is mast crop failure years when they hammer everything in my plots.

I have planted the Biologic mix and they just wipe it out. Not a lot of deer, but they really seem to key in on the brassicas.

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[4wanderingeyes]

looks shady. did you do a soil test?

After further review, I believe you are right, it is way to shady. This winter I will have to drop some of the trees on the south side of the plot.

 

[SmallChunk]

They are digging my greens right now too

 

[MoBuckChaser]

They are digging my greens right now tooView attachment 10218

Looks good Small Chunk, is that up here or down south?

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Nice looking plot!

 

[SmallChunk]

That one is here, your seed is growing like crazy. I might have planted a bit thick and too early. I didn't expect to have such a good growing season!

 

[MoBuckChaser]

That one is here, your seed is growing like crazy. I might have planted a bit thick and too early. I didn't expect to have such a good growing season!

Good to hear!

No shortage of moisture now, so you should have a great amount of feed!