Rape Seed
 

I wanted to put some more small plots in my open areas in the woods. The deer hammered my rye and clover to the ground and I wanted something that would be available for the rut hunt.

At the mill, they told me rape seed would work for this time of year and for what I want.

I planted it on September 5th in northern PA. What should I expect. Archery runs from October 3rd through mid-November. Rifle is the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Do deer love this stuff? What about bears? Thanks.

Deer seem to react different to brassicas in different areas. Some places they eat them to the ground, other places they won't touch them. If the local mill suggests them, they probably know that they'll work for you. You won't get great growth planted this late, but if fertilized well they should put on enough growth to feed the deer. Within 4 weeks mine were over 12" tall as reference. If you don't have some frosts before the rut, the deer may not be interested in them yet, but again that varies. I have no idea about bears.

Thanks. The mill is 8 miles from where I planted so the conditions should be similar. Although we are 2400 feet in elevation and the mill is on the bottom of the mountain. Our first frost will likely be sooner.

Can I fertilize without burning the plants? Next time I'll be up there is the 19th of Sept. Maybe.....

If you put it down right before a good rain you'll be fine. If rain is questionable, don't put it down. Make sure they have plenty of N and they'll grow fine.

I planted on Saturday and rain was forcasted all week. Scattered and chance of and all that stuff, but a decent chance every day. Also, on top of the mountain, we get rain when the bottom just gets passing clouds.

By "N", do you mean the symbol for Nitrogen? As in, I should fertilize?

Sorry about that, yes, I meant use a fertilizer high in Nitrogen. You may or may not need it depending on your soil, but brassicas like nitrogen, so in most cases it will only help. The problem is that if nitrogen isn't incorported into the soil by tillage or rain it will be lost to the atmosphere. Also, nitrogen can burn your plants if it doesan't get rained in. If you aren't sure of rain the next time you're up there, I'd just skip the fertilizer this year. Depending on how long your rye/clover had been there, they may have left behind enough nitrogen to please the brassicas.

The reason I didn't fertilize was the fear of the seed or young plants burning out. If I had the time, I would have watered and tilled the fertilizer in a week or so prior to seeding. However, I do not have that luxury. I may have to take my chances.

On the other hand, two of the small areas were fertilized in early August but the clover/wheat I planted didn't take. I limed the spots again and worked the soil before planting the rape, or (sewing the seeds of rape :s5:).

Would a slow-release fertilizer still have the burning out risk? I suppose the amount of rain, temps, etc... would all have an influence on how the chemicals were released into the soil.

Next year, I will be more on the ball. Lime and fertilize and prep the soil in my areas so that the soil is in ship-shape when I'm ready to plant.

Thanks for all the help. I'll post some updates next time I'm up at camp. Could be Sept. 19th, but that's the opening day of early archery down home so I might stay and hunt. Tough dilema. :s4:

Any fertilizer with nitrogen has the potential to burn plants. It's probably not a big deal this year. Sounds like you'll be fine if you fertilized earlier in the year.

Thanks for all your input. It's been raining for days here. I shouldn't have to worry about watering :D

This food plot stuff is fun. Like a veggie garden without all the tomatoes and cucumbers you'll never eat. :D