Rye
09-21-2009, 01:50 PM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location:
Posts: 128
Rye
I have had a few rye seeds to sprout in the back of my pickup bed.
Has anyone had success with rye in a food plot without using fertilizer?
As expensive as fertilizer is, I'm trying to save a few dollars if possible.
Has anyone had success with rye in a food plot without using fertilizer?
As expensive as fertilizer is, I'm trying to save a few dollars if possible.
09-21-2009, 03:19 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 2,175
i have thrown it down in sandy soil with no prep and it grew. it is very cheap seed so i would say just throw it in the ground and have at it.ive had deer eat the popped seed that was laying in the brush that didnt take to the soil.
09-21-2009, 03:50 PM
#3
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: MN
Posts: 342
Rye is a great food plot choice for the fall. It will grow without fertilizer, just don't expect a lush green plot that is waist high. If you can afford it, 50-100 lbs/a of urea will help it a lot and is probably all you need.
09-22-2009, 05:11 AM
#5
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains of VA
Posts: 698
It will depend on what's been growing previously. Of all the grains, rye has the ability to "scavenge" for nutrients. Around here nobody fertilizes rye, but there's adequate nutrients left over from the previous crop. If you suspect soil fertility is low, then spreading fertilizer will be money well spent. Now is a good time to find bargains on fertilizer sold at wal-mart and other big box stores. Lawn fertilizer without crabgrass/weed control would work well.
09-22-2009, 05:28 AM
#6
Typical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Person Co. NC
Posts: 884
The deer do know the difference between plants that have enough nutrients and those that do not. They get better nutrition from the plants with the proper levels of nutrients, and will absolutely prefer those above ones that do not.
If they dont have anything else to eat, it doesn't matter so much.
09-22-2009, 08:36 AM
#7
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location:
Posts: 128
Thanks for the help. A couple of other questions:
1) Soilman, when you say 50 lbs of urea, do you mean a 50 lb bag of 46-0-0 or 108 lbs of 46-0-0 (108 x46%=50)?
2) Is urea best applied when seed is sowed or at a later date?
1) Soilman, when you say 50 lbs of urea, do you mean a 50 lb bag of 46-0-0 or 108 lbs of 46-0-0 (108 x46%=50)?
2) Is urea best applied when seed is sowed or at a later date?
09-22-2009, 03:02 PM
#8
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: MN
Posts: 342
Tennhunter, 50 lbs/a of urea (46-0-0) is about 1/2 the recommended amount of N for rye (23 lbs/a N, in the northlands here, the recommended rate is 40 lbs/a N). In some experiments we ran at work, there was little difference between rye with a full rate of N vs. a half rate of N. I did mean 50-100 lbs/a of urea. Work the urea into the soil just before planting for best results. If your plot is small, using lawn fertilizer as Haystack suggested may be a good alternative.
