What grows in sand?
 

I'm looking for something to plant as a spring/summer food plot for deer that has good nutrition. NW Okla. has mostly sagebrush and sand. I can possibly work something out for water. I would appreciate any advice on what to plant.

RE: What grows in sand?
 

cactus?

RE: What grows in sand?
 

Tumble Weed, Sand Spurs, Begger Lice, Sea Grapes, Beach Wheat, Coconuts, Tangerines, Grape Fruits and Oranges!:)

RE: What grows in sand?
 

Don't forget oaks, but I don't know about in Oklahoma. Another plant that cattle and horses love is tobacco, but whether deer will eat it is questionable.

Dan O.

RE: What grows in sand?
 

Something Cheap is millit
they will eat it for the first 3 weeks

RE: What grows in sand?
 

I would think that with good fertilizer, soil test, right temperature and water just about anything would grow there.

RE: What grows in sand?
 

Will, I live in NW OK, hunt and also farm here. There are many different types of soil here. On the farm where I live, you can raise practically anything if you get the rain. On my hunting property, though, it is extremely sandy. It is about 1 1/2 miles from the Cimarron river and the soil is basically river sand, but it will grow trees. The only crop I've found that does good in the summer is cowpeas. The deer love them, they will grow in poor soil, and are relatively drough resistant. I would suggest planting about May 1. That is really a little early, but my experience with planting later is that what the deer don't get, the grasshoppers do. Also, you have a better chance of having moisture than later on. The variety I would recommend is Chinese Reds. They seem to be the most drouth resistant. I double the planting rate on most everything I plant out there. Normally you would plant about 20# of seed in a farming situation, but on the deer plot I double that because the deer will start eating them just as soon as they come up, and if they eat them off at the two leaf stage, they are done.If they are thicker, they have a better chance to shade the ground. Also, the bigger the plot the better. My experience of very small plots is that the deer will wipe them out and grasshoppers will be worse on them.

RE: What grows in sand?
 

Another thing you might try is to increase the amount of organic matter in a couple of spots. If you know of a good place to get some old straw and manure for free, then you could turn a couple of 1/4 acre areas into better places for a plot. Doing that should improve the fertility and water holding capacity of the soil. I wouldn't plant anything that would have to make it through all of the 'hardships' of the summertime though...just a few things that would be coming up in time for hunting season. How many acres do ya'll have?

RE: What grows in sand?
 

I'm planning on doing just that. I'm keeping my eyes open for a reasonably priced manure spreader. I raise sheep and I always have a lot of rotten hay, bedding, and manure mixed by the end of winter. I think that would work great on that poor soil. Organic material is definitely the answer.

RE: What grows in sand?
 

What about peanuts??? They are pretty drought tolerant, have as much protein as alfalfa, deer love them and in our sandy soils in eastern NC they do well...We sell ours to Planters, in Suffolk, VA...

When I worked for John Deere, seems I remember that OK also grew peanuts (as well as GA and NC)...While we raise Virginia Jumbo, ya'll raise Spanish, if my memory is correct...

RE: What grows in sand?
 

I don't know nuttin' bout no peanuts...someone else is gonna have to field that one!

RE: What grows in sand?
 

Peanuts are great as well as the cowpeas. You might also want to consider mungbeans. I live in S.W. Okla and farm as well as plant for the deer. They love all of these. When you turn over the peanuts, the deer and raccoons, and hogs go nuts. I would plant some or all of these if I had enough room and hope for a little moisture. If you can, you should plant them After a rain and as soon as you can work the soil. Early May to middle of June should be good. Give some thought to when you usually get some rain and get in the ground before the most ofit usuallyoccurs. Good luck.

RE: What grows in sand?
 

Peanuts would not be an option on my soil. You have to have something that can stand hot, dry spells and sometimes we just don't get the rain here. And the soil is so sandy, when it does rain the water soaks in and goes straight down. Same way with soybeans. You can grow them here, but you have to irrigate them or have an unusually high amount of rain. I used to raise mungbeans and they will grow here, but cowpeas will make more folliage and the chinese reds are more drouth tolerant.

RE: What grows in sand?
 

Cowpeas are a good option.Our soil where we planted them is very sandy. I planted about 2 acres on my place in one spot last year and it was wiped out with 6 weeks. Our deer absolutely loved em. I think we are going to plant 2x as much (10 acres) this year and try some different plot savers to keep the deer from wiping them all out.

RE: What grows in sand?
 

Peanuts are pretty dang tuff and can tolerate dry spells rather well. Our county agent is trying to get us to try some Perennial Peanuts for wildlife.

RE: What grows in sand?
 

Overwhelming amount of information and knowledge in this place, it's like a library...