June planting brassicas?

[Derek Reese 29]

Thinking about trying a planting of a brassica mix and maybe some GRO brassicas in one of the 1/2 acre plots above my house. Really want to have some good, tall cold weather food as this year all the properties around me that had corn also had a majority of the deer (it wasn’t harvested until a few weeks ago). I plan to do a “normal” planting of a separate but similar brassica mix in the adjacent 1/2 acre plot that is currently in a rye/clover mix (will mow it really low after letting the rye dry out in late July/early August)..thoughts on this?? Thanks!

 

[Buckhunter10]

Thinking about trying a planting of a brassica mix and maybe some GRO brassicas in one of the 1/2 acre plots above my house. Really want to have some good, tall cold weather food as this year all the properties around me that had corn also had a majority of the deer (it wasn’t harvested until a few weeks ago). I plan to do a “normal” planting of a separate but similar brassica mix in the adjacent 1/2 acre plot that is currently in a rye/clover mix (will mow it really low after letting the rye dry out in late July/early August)..thoughts on this?? Thanks!

Where are you located? The issue you might have is that if temps are too warm, it triggers a response in the plant to “bolt” vs. putting energy into tuber production- they’ll be making seed.

In Ohio - I planted brassica one year around July 4th. Thay was the earliest I ever planted and it actually worked out really well but not exponentially better than when I plant them at end of July or early August in a more diverse mix.

Hope this helps! Merry Christmas!

 

[bigboreblr]

IN 2021, I put in a late April food plot in zone 3 adirondacks. Did oats, turnips, and clover. Turnips were nibbled some during hunting season, they wee monsters softball to large acorn squash sized ones. Plenty of green to nbble on.

Whats your plan throw n mow, or tilling up the land? Using fertilier?

I'd play around a bit with this. Do small spots every 3 weeks. Maybe try some different brassicas in monoplot. It can be small batch like 12x12ft patches or so.

MY plan is to rotate 1/3 of my clover n rye plot to something fancy every year. Likely be tillage involved too.

The competition is it agriculture or hunter's corn food plots? Once they mow, you got em. Think providing screening / security with food will be better rifle season wise. Especially if your high up on the ground to get a good shot at them. I'd do one of those fall season taller plots and compare it to a oats plot You'll get some deer who want the oats. I'd do the oats, clover, and brassica mix much like many do for rye.

Also, you forget does move around a bit due to bucks annoying them. We had a relatively frost free october into novemebr here n NY. Could see the brassicas sweetening up later this season. I didn't use much of mine. Had it in my lawn patch mix. Just fixing up drainage in the back yard. MAybe 2000 square feet if that.

Rye is cheap and easy, it has its place. Being a top shelf foodplot attraction, it is not in my experience. It is something decent when there is nothing live around vs browse.

I did canola early a few years ago. Deer were not interestedin it and it was a monster 3-4ft tall plant.

I think you didn't have all the toys most guys on here have for land work. ATV, cultipacker, and a sprayer? Think you had a 9N with a mower? Any other implements.

Im glad to learn the things I did on here. Rye n clover untilled for several years is my plan going forward. But, I will still be doing some bare dirt food plot work with fertilier too going forward. If I had more time money and equipment, I might do half of it one year, and let the other half rest next year.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Only you know the weather patterns in your area but for awhile now have been trying to plant brassicas in 2nd half of June vs waiting a month. Around here seems the rain tap shuts off right after the 4th of July until about mid August. Factor that with my deer know what brassicas are now and will browse some on even young plants. Plants with initial rains germinate quick and get a good growth spurt and can handle a bit of a dry spell later when they are not so tiny and can also "out grow" moderate browsing.

Far enough north here and suspect same for northern PA that no worries about growing too well and bolting before fall and impacting bulb production. I also don't fertilize so takes longer for getting some size to bulbs.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Right now the plots both have clover, rye and some brassicas…really want to do this as kind of an experiment I know my little green plot will never outcompete the surrounding ag corn, but my thinking is it only takes one hot doe to make that plot a good one. I only have an ATV, cultipacker and sprayer and plan to broadcast the seed into the standing rye then mow it short to mulch over top. I want to keep the one plot in rye all summer as fawning cover and to let both the clover and rye go to seed…did that exact method this year but on one plot I didn’t mow the clover low enough

 

[gjs4]

One thing to remember with brassicas is your herd's knowledge and use of them. The first year or two may not show draw regardless of how they grow....so there may be a larger variable there.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

One thing to remember with brassicas is your herd's knowledge and use of them. The first year or two may not show draw regardless of how they grow....so there may be a larger variable there.

They will kinda nibble them until it gets cold then hit them hard nightly once the weed been a few frosts

 

[gjs4]

Derek- personally i have seen that, and i 'e also seen them avoid them as well as annihilate them well before a frost. One place i ran a turnip variety and they were in there in September. They wanted the bulbs more that the tops. I tried one wondering what the draw was,; Downright spicy like horseradish. Of anything I've planted, brassica result have bene all over the board and at times it has had no rationale.

 

[Foggy47]

Collards are a brassica that seems to do well over a longer period of time. Seems deer like collards.

 

[Terrific_tom]

As Foggy said. Forage collards can be planted in May and grow the whole season without bolting. 2 things you will have to deal with are weed control and fertilizing during the growing season. You will have to fertilize at least once maybe twice as collards are growing. There are also some kale varieties that are long growing, that you could mix in with the forage collards to give your plot a variety.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

A mix of Swedes, Collards, Winfred, and Kale would be a good mix. Long season plots get to be a little tricky. You need to make sure they are not planted to thick so they get plenty of air flow and sunlight. But, that makes weeds a concern because those varieties of brassica grow so slow. You will want to put down a good pre emerge herbicide to help fight off the weeds until they are established enough to help shade the ground.

 

[Terrific_tom]

Here is a pic of forage collards end of June planted Memorial01162700510.html weekend.

 

[ruskbucks]

I have land in NW WI. I have been planting brassica for 20 years up there. It always did good, but like you I wanted bigger bulbs and even bigger leaves. I kept bumping my planting date back a week earlier. I was really happy with the results planting around the forth of July. This year I could only make it up to plant mid June so I gave it a shot. It did not go well at all. It was like everything was stunted. It could of been because the weeds grew better earlier. Idk. I kept waiting for the brassica to take off. It never did. It was stunted from July to October. Last year I had ptt the size of a ball cap, this year about the size of a 50cent piece. I wouldn't suggest planting that early. I will be not going any earlier then July.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I have land in NW WI. I have been planting brassica for 20 years up there. It always did good, but like you I wanted bigger bulbs and even bigger leaves. I kept bumping my planting date back a week earlier. I was really happy with the results planting around the forth of July. This year I could only make it up to plant mid June so I gave it a shot. It did not go well at all. It was like everything was stunted. It could of been because the weeds grew better earlier. Idk. I kept waiting for the brassica to take off. It never did. It was stunted from July to October. Last year I had ptt the size of a ball cap, this year about the size of a 50cent piece. I wouldn't suggest planting that early. I will be not going any earlier then July.

I never got any to grow either, but it was so dry the last couple of summers, I barely got wr to grow.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Now y’all have me leaning towards the 4th of July which was when I had planned to plant mine this year..they got in the ground august 10th..so if I shoot for June I might get them in by mid July

 

[ruskbucks]

I never got any to grow either, but it was so dry the last couple of summers, I barely got wr to grow.

It seemed like alot of the rain went south of you toward my place. Have you had any good brassica plots up there. My father in law just east of you had good germination but he overseeded so damn bad that it was like astro turf. Very sandy soil. It never was more than 6 inches tall. I would of like to of seen it when seed correctly.

 

[bigboreblr]

Offsetting the same crop can be helpful. Spray n throw one part in the 1st of august, then another mid august, then again labor day if possible.

Amount of sun can effect when you grow. Where my turnip bulbs did best were shaded middle of the day from some tall trees to the south. Maybe apply the offset strategy to include less sunny areas.

Many of us have varying opinions on how well rye attracts deer during hunting season. Throw some oats in there.

Phosphrous might be the key to brassicas. But, there is something that makes clovers more or less palatable. I wonder what the effect tannins from rotting wood have on palatability. Might experiment with that a bit with mixing in some spruce woodchips in half a plot. See what that does. Was looking to get more organic matter on a heavier clay foodplot. Thinking of mixing in about 2 dump truck loads of chips. Like a 3/4 inch layer rototilled about 6 inches deep.


Antoher issue with experimenting with brassicas is inconsistent weather. Forst damage isn't a 32 deg night, its more likely like several hours of 28 deg, maybe even several nights too. I imagine brassica leaves are easier to frost up than tree branches. Seems like 25 is the temp for apple trees.

If you have a trail camera, might be nice to have an exclusion cage in the picture. You can see trends based on weather. Or, an exclusion cage or area that you remove around frost time of year. Can see when they start liking the greens.

I got a local AG place where you can buy seed by the pound. So I can play around with different things. Some seed stores online let you buy small quantities and combine them to one shipment to save on cost.

Since your by AG, perhaps setting up an area focused on muzzleloading season. With my limited experience with tillage radish, I noticed they were in it more towards december and January. I would be very disappointed to hear you don't have a rocklock for january. Your not that far from dixons.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

I gave up on the flintlock a couple years ago..fun to shoot but I had way too many misfires at deer I could easily have killed with a bow or crossbow..they definitely used my brassicas a lot between the start of December and into January, but in my heavily pressured neighborhood there were rarely any bucks that would visit even close to daylight..hoping the apple/crabs/pear trees in the plot help with that …Will definitely it let be mixing some oats in at. 50/50 ratio with my rye this year..just to give more options…

 

[4wanderingeyes]

It seemed like alot of the rain went south of you toward my place. Have you had any good brassica plots up there. My father in law just east of you had good germination but he overseeded so damn bad that it was like astro turf. Very sandy soil. It never was more than 6 inches tall. I would of like to of seen it when seed correctly.

My first couple of years (2014-2015) after I made the food plots, I had really good brassica plots, since, they have been mediocre at best. I have even been amending as per soil tests.

 

[Foggy47]

My first couple of years (2014-2015) after I made the food plots, I had really good brassica plots, since, they have been mediocre at best. I have even been amending as per soil tests.

I also had some stellar brassica plots the first few times I grew them. I had limed allot at that point.....and we got some timely rains. Seems the last few summers have been drought times.