What to mix with fall Oats?
- Thread starter Mike O
- Start date
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
Oats can be nursery crop for alot of things. Do you need to lime or fertilize? Using a seed drill? Doing any tillage? Weed problems? Whats there now?
I pretty much buy or copy plotspike forge feast. Oats, wheat, clovers, brassicas, winter peas, and a bit of chicory. Did this with some hairy vetch. Worked very well. I'm new to rye, my second year, but i would throw that in a few weeks later.. 6 weeks before a frost.
How early or late you plant for the season might dictate what to put in or avoid. Alot folks had a dry season this year. Definitely have a late season plan B.
I pretty much buy or copy plotspike forge feast. Oats, wheat, clovers, brassicas, winter peas, and a bit of chicory. Did this with some hairy vetch. Worked very well. I'm new to rye, my second year, but i would throw that in a few weeks later.. 6 weeks before a frost.
How early or late you plant for the season might dictate what to put in or avoid. Alot folks had a dry season this year. Definitely have a late season plan B.
Telemark
5 year old buck +
All 4! Plus some crimson clover and daikon radish.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Where are you located? Up here oats frost kill early in the season so having other species that are still desirable later is a necessity.
Clover, peas, and brassicas are all good to plant with them followed by a later broadcast of a winter cereal (wheat, rye, triticale) is ideal.
Clover, peas, and brassicas are all good to plant with them followed by a later broadcast of a winter cereal (wheat, rye, triticale) is ideal.
Western Upper Penninsul of Michigan. Have planted just about everything at this point and seems like the Cereal grains are about idiot proof to plant and the deer hammer them. Just wanted to add some variety so probably just do turnips. Will be planting last week in August. Would mix in some rye but I plan on planting clover, alfalfa, chicory in those plots next year and do not want to deal with the rye straw.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
They'll probably winter kill and i wouldn't expect much growth if planted in late August. I guess the limited fall growth thing goes for most any clover.
Why not plant a winter hardy clover, chicory, and alfalfa with the oats in the fall? They may not amount to much in the fall but should result in better establishment the following year. Let the cereals do the work for the fall attraction.
Lots of folks here tend to look at rye residue as a gift rather than hindrance, what dont you like about it? I'd think it would be beneficial to have a living cover in the spring vs a ground with dead oats and brassicas and nothing to compete with weeds.
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omicron1792
5 year old buck +
Lots of good advice already. Most here add 10-12 things to plot and have gotten away from using just one or two plants. Read the throw and mow thread by @Crimson n' Camo. Rye will really build the soil. I used just rye for a while till soil got healthy. Now I add more and more oats and wheat too. But I’ll tell you, deer like all three IMO.
Read some @SD51555 threads. He’s a master at reading his soil and adding things that work well with it, not trying to force square peg in round hole with crops that might not do well in your region and soil (oats).
Most always add several clovers, both perennial and annual. Read @Wind Gypsy and @Foggy47 for good advice on that. Deer like it in fall, but it really shines in spring. And your grains the next fall will looooove all the free nitrogen. It also keeps your soil covered the next spring keeping it healthier.
Welcome and good luck! Many ways to skin a cat but you will find everyone here has tried almost every combination and will happily tell you about their successes (and many man failures like I have had). Might save you some time and money.
Read some @SD51555 threads. He’s a master at reading his soil and adding things that work well with it, not trying to force square peg in round hole with crops that might not do well in your region and soil (oats).
Most always add several clovers, both perennial and annual. Read @Wind Gypsy and @Foggy47 for good advice on that. Deer like it in fall, but it really shines in spring. And your grains the next fall will looooove all the free nitrogen. It also keeps your soil covered the next spring keeping it healthier.
Welcome and good luck! Many ways to skin a cat but you will find everyone here has tried almost every combination and will happily tell you about their successes (and many man failures like I have had). Might save you some time and money.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
Watch growingdeertv about rye straw in spring. Most here’s number one goal in fall is to have a great rye straw cover in spring.
A great way to start is to buy green cover seed fall release (on one of their others like browse release) early. Then as things go start mixing your own blends that work with your soil. Great videos with Grant woods and making soil healthy and black, which then makes everything grow.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
All really good advice.
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
I do my final seed drilling win late August or Early September. I plant 100+ lbs / acre of Winter Rye, and Medium Red Clover(5) White Clover (2) turnips (1) radish (5)DER (1-2) Chicory (2) and maybe some other things too. This year I am trying yellow sweet clover and will decide if I will do more of this going forward.
The rye is getting grazed right now as well as any remaining clover (as we do not have much snow cover according to my cell cams). Meanwhile I will play golf all winter in "OZ" and when spring does break in April.....that rye will be the very first thing to green up.......and the normally thin (sometimes starving) deer will be all over that rye again. A few weeks later the clover will kick in and will provide great nutrition (while building more nitrogen for future crops). Deer simply love clover. The rye will grow about 4 feet high and provides allopathic properties to keep weeds at bay and generally I just "crowd out" the space where weeds would grow with other good things. The rye then creates good fawning cover in May / June and into July.
In July it becomes about the only time I need to do anything and roll that rye for mulch and let the other things thrive. Grin. It's a great plan.
The rye is getting grazed right now as well as any remaining clover (as we do not have much snow cover according to my cell cams). Meanwhile I will play golf all winter in "OZ" and when spring does break in April.....that rye will be the very first thing to green up.......and the normally thin (sometimes starving) deer will be all over that rye again. A few weeks later the clover will kick in and will provide great nutrition (while building more nitrogen for future crops). Deer simply love clover. The rye will grow about 4 feet high and provides allopathic properties to keep weeds at bay and generally I just "crowd out" the space where weeds would grow with other good things. The rye then creates good fawning cover in May / June and into July.
In July it becomes about the only time I need to do anything and roll that rye for mulch and let the other things thrive. Grin. It's a great plan.
I am not sure where you are located but if you did this mix, I would plant rape & PTT between Mid July & Aug. Come September I would top dress your cereal grains and come back 2 weeks later and add more cereal grains.
In the beginning of August, I tried Domain Green Machine that they advertised as good for small remote plots that has a lot of the seeds you are inquiring about in a remote plot. I knew it wouldn't work out well. You can't plant the smaller seed as deep as the oats. My PH level in that plot is 6.5 and I followed their instructions to a T and have the equipment to do so. I would not recommend that seed blend mixture. In the beginning of September, I broadcasted WR into that plot & came back two weeks later and added more WR. As of last week, plot was nice and green like my other plots.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
From reading for years on here, and our own camp's experience (much of it learned from on here!!!), it's tough to beat winter rye & winter wheat for fall / winter food plots. At zone 5 & 6 border, our camp plants a mix of MRC & Ladino white clover in with rye & wheat, along with some turnips and Groundhog radishes. We plant the clovers, turnips and radishes mid-to late July, then come back later and do the rye / wheat seeding around Labor Day. We've found oats to be a great draw up until frost, then they die off. Rye & wheat feed all winter through the snow, as do the turnips & radish tops. Rye greens up first in spring along with wheat, then clovers kick in as the weather warms. You get greens, nitrogen, and soil improvement from a mix like this.
Again - I / our camp learned this from experienced guys on here that know their AG. Good advice above this post!!
Again - I / our camp learned this from experienced guys on here that know their AG. Good advice above this post!!
swat1018
5 year old buck +
If I was in the north country, I'd probably skip the oats. Plant rye as your main cereal, or a mix of rye / wheat. I would add radish, turnip, rape. Plant your brassicas around the end of July. Plant your cereal mix later. If you have a failure of the brassica plot, turn everything to cereal mix. Otherwise, plant in strips. I have real good luck with pumpkins. I plant pumpkin patches around my stand locations. I would plant pumpkins around the first of July. Good Luck...
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
Foggy,
Whats DER?
Doesn't matter what you mix. Doesn't matter if it all doesn't make it through the winter. The deer deciede what they like or don't. Mess up on one, the others take over.
Seen deer mixes even with buckwheat for a fall blend. Nothing wrong with good old medium red clover either. Cereal grains help peas, vetches, bean, and clover scaffold.
In my plot I'm happy to see plantain weeds come back after a roundup spraying.
Whats DER?
Doesn't matter what you mix. Doesn't matter if it all doesn't make it through the winter. The deer deciede what they like or don't. Mess up on one, the others take over.
Seen deer mixes even with buckwheat for a fall blend. Nothing wrong with good old medium red clover either. Cereal grains help peas, vetches, bean, and clover scaffold.
In my plot I'm happy to see plantain weeds come back after a roundup spraying.
swat1018
5 year old buck +
DEER is dwarf essex rape. Not necessarily on the cereals, oats will winter kill. If they do, you can't expect brassicas (winter kill) and clover to carry the load. I'm fine with including oats, but never do straight oats in the midwest. In the south, maybe it works.
omicron1792
5 year old buck +
They will overwinter here but still don’t provide the biomass you need in the spring.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
Winter kill or not this is what I use and would advise.
Oats, radish, winter peas (icicle if you can find them) frosty berseam clover, LOTS of sunflowers (the deer will devour them so they will not over take the other plantings) and top it all off with winter rye about a month later.
