My pictures are a little big - so I provided links for most of them - so you all do not have to wait for them to load.


The " Sunflower plot" started our as a corn field this spring - the sunflower seeds were Black-Oil Seeds for birds. I bought like 5 lbs of seed and mixed it in with 40 lbs of corn seed - mostly because the planter was planting the corn too close(small seed for my plates) - so I got the " Bright Idea" of cutting it with a cheap seed. As it turned out - the spring was VERY wet and cold - we had a frost and an extended wet period right after planting, and I lost 90% of the corn. BUT the sunflowers flourished. - So much so that the corn probably would have had a tough time competing with the sunflowers - in the future I would not plant so many seeds with the corn! The sunflowers stand about shoulder high.

The planting was originally a 3 acre planting. In mid June, I re-disked up a little more than 1 acre of it and planted what corn I had left. I left the rest in sunflowers.

The sunflowers are just now opening up - and there is some corn mixed in (not much). The replanted corn is coming on now, a bit weedy - but We' ll have at least some corn - and it' ll be very interesting to see if the sunflowers offer cover and or food for the deer. I ended up mixing in some soybeans - and while you cannot see them in the corn pictures (last picture) - the deer know they are there.

http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/...se2___2003.jpg

http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/...ose_1_2003.jpg

http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/...s_8_3_2003.jpg

Replanted corn on 8/3 - planted in late June:

http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/..._corn_2003.jpg

The other corn fields are VERY Spotty, and the weeds are very bad - even with cultivation - I' ll post " the weedy corn plot" soon.

farm hunter; have the deer shown any signs of feeding on the sunflowers?

Dan O.

A friend of mine grew a 1/2 acre field of sunflowers a few years back. The deer didn' t have anything to do with them until the fall when the plants dried. Then.... Man, what are you talkin' about. The deer wouldn' t stay out of them. You couldn' t step anywhere in that field without stepping in a deer track. Hopefully you' ll have the same luck.

Nope Dan - nothing serious anyhow - I really don' t know what to expect from the deer. If it provides cover I' ll be happy, if it provides a food source - it' ll be a bonus. I cannot remember - once a frost gets them - do the leaevs fall off? - I hope not, it would be nice to have head high, leafy brown cover - bordering a clover & small corn lot in the deer season. I sure would have rather have had the corn, or the $$ lost back. I expect the field will be a BIRD haven. I think they' re pretty anyhow??.

There should be enough heads once they dry - if the deer' l eat the dry seeds - look out!!

I read where the Whitetail Institute has a new product - Its some type of climbing bean - & sorghum. The sorghum provides a strong " trellis" for the beans to grow on, and then a seed head in the fall. Its a summer plot. I like the idea however, and suspect sunflowers would work as well - they are a hardy stem when fertilized. I look forward to seeing what the plot does, I' ll let you all know.

I think Ballistictip is right. You' ll have to fight the deer off with a stick after they ripen. So if the deer don' t touch them when they' re growing this may be a good late season lure crop. The ones in my garden and field keep standing through the winter. They' re comparable to corn.

Dan O.

thanks - I hope your both right - one thing for sure - it would be tough to plant a cheaper- less hastle plot.

I know of some gardeners who complain that they can not grow sunflowers because of the deer. They eat them off when the plant is less then a foot tall. Keep us posted. I' ve been wanting to try them myself. Let me know if you find quail using them as well.

nice crop of sun flowers good luck with them

Farm hunter they llook much better than ours and deer do love them when they are small, we plant strictly for dove hunting. We will mow a row or two about 2 weeks before dove season and then a row each day during the season and keep them feeding... We have had so much rain here that sunflowers are not growing right , we are not getting hot nights and sunny days..

The rabbits eat them when they are a foot tall and the deer get them when they are 3 feet tall. I mix sunflowers in with my pumpkins and I had to protect everyone of them. The deer love them when they are young but the birds get most of mine in the fall. I don' t have as much as you do farmhunter.

I think the deer will be there. Put a camera on the edge and let us see your pics.