bowmanaj

I have finally decided on what I wanna put in for the fall, but I have no experience with turnips and I was wondering you guys could give me some tips. Also, any other brassica types you could suggest.

From what I've gathered so far,they need to be planted earlier than other fall plots like wheat/oats, because they need more warmer weather to develop. Also,they prefer full sun indeep/loose soil, and a ph of 6.5... Sown 1/4"-1/2" deep and 4-6" apart. Is this correct? No thinning?

Anyother info/advice you all have is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

haystack

Bowman, Turnips are easy to grow, as long as you get timely rains. You are correct, they should be planted late July-early Aug, they are slow to get started but when they do take off they grow very fast. With the soil you have, you could probably get by with just nitrogen added before you plant. They can use as much as 150lbs of urea per acre but just add what you can. It is best to broadcast the seed and lightly cover with a drag or pack the soil after sowing. They should be sowed at 3 to 6 lbs per acre, thinning is not necessary, the tops contain the most nutrition and the deer should assist in any thinning A good mix is 3lbs of Purple Top Turnip and 3lbs of Dwarf Essex Rape.

Here is a few that is sold in those pretty commercial bags.

Tyfon Forage Brassica, Appin Forage Turnip, Barkant Forage Turnip, Pasja Hybrid Brassica, Barnapoli Rape seed, Bonar Rape seed.

Most of these can be purchased in one pound qauntities for $2 to 3.50 a pound.
Let me know if you need a on-line source.

bowmanaj

Thank you, thats a lot of good info. I figured I would wanna broadcast it, so the info I had wasn't really relevant to growing them for foodplots..
I'll be preparing the areathe next coupleweekends, and getting lime down. I have a good amount of high nitrogen fertilizer left over, so that helps.
My ph is at 6.0 in this area right now so I wanna fix it a bit.

Thanks again for the info, I think I'm going to try to mix it withthat Tyfon or Appin forage turnip.

RonM

Dont plant them before late July.

bowmanaj

Alright.. I was planning on early august, right before some expected rains. But sometime in this area August can havebarely any or norainfall for 2-3 weeks. There is a pond nearby and I have a big sprayer (only for water, no chemicals) so hopefully I'll be able to help it if we get a drought. Its happened the last 2 years[:-].

haystack-- soyou're saying Ican just add nitrogen fert. and I shouldn't worry about more lime? The seed seems pretty small like I could use the atv tires again to pack it down. I'm guessing its like clover, not too deep but good seed-soil contact?

haystack

Bowman, Turnips prefer a soil PH of 6.5 -6.8, so if you could add some lime now that would be great. They will grow at a much lower PH, but to maximize the nutrients you already have in your soil, correct soil PH will help make those nutrients available.

If you could firm or pack the soil and then broadcast, and then use the atv to pack again, that would work well.

It does pay to keep an eye on the weather before planting and sow right before expected rain. However, the old-timers in my area always followed this rule "wet or dry, sow turnips on the 26 of July" They would do that regardless of the weather. IMO turnips should have at least 6 weeks before frost is expected. Of course that varies depending on the region.

spikeman

Turnips the deer love. I planted 400,000 of them a couple of years ago and after the first heavy frost the starch turns to sugar and the deer love them.

I am planting again this year. I plant here in June and use the samson turnip, they dont get as big. The deer just put it in their mouth and chew it up then the leaves are sucked down like it was spagetti.
'
Come the following spring there were none to be seen on the ground and the place was like a cow pasture. This year I am also planting peas as well. Should be a smorg LOL

bowmanaj

Thanks for all the info guys, that helps a lot.

I limed this area in mid winter to get it to where it is now. I have a few hundred pounds of lime leftover, which isn't much, butbetter than nothing I guess.Plus its not a very big area, a 1/4 acre clearing in the middle of the woods.But the leftover lime ispelletized, not powder. Hopefully it will still take effect in time, we'll see.

The whole idea is to get a later season food source on the property, which is the one thing this property is lacking. Early season and the rut are awesome, but when the real cold weeks get here, they move a mile to the cut corn and beans. Deer density is out of control. Trail cam pics show that they had a hard winter, from not enough food Im assuming. The surplus of Ag fields around here still isn't enough for around 45 deer per square mile (Ohio County, SEIndiana).. Will a turnip plot this size withstand heavy browsing? I really just want to keep them around during late season.What type of brassica produces the most tonnage per acre?

Thanks again..

haystack

The pelletized lime actually goes to work faster than Ag-lime. You should be good on that.

That is alot of deer per square mile!! It might be possible for the turnips to have a chance to achieve maximum growth before heavy browsing occurs, if the deer feed in the crop fields in early fall.

The Purple Top Turnip/Dwarf Essex Rape mixture was used in this area for hog pasture years ago, I'm not sure exactly what the estimated tons per acre is, but it is substantial. I will see if some of these hybrids produce more.

bowmanaj

Really, I thought it was the other way around.. Good to know!

Yea the DNR and QDMA websites say its 30-45 deer per sq. mile in this part of SE Indiana, but I truly believe my area is closer to the higher #...In the fall they feed in the ag fields and work their way back up the ridges, back to their bedsin the thick stuff andovergrown fescue/hay sections.. So hopefully they don't demolish it rightafter the 1st frosts. We took a good number of does last fall so hopefully that helps at least alittle bit.
Thanks again