Rutebagga
 

Tasimna stated that they plant rutebagga and the deer love them in the fall. When do you plant those for fall. Do you have to put them out in the spring or in August? How long do they take to mature for the deer to eat them in the fall as timing can be everthing.

RE: Rutebagga
 

Wig, beggies are generally around a 72--90 day crop depending on the variety you plant. We generally plant ours late may--early june(our average last frost here is june 9). Our bow season starts mid sept, and the beggies are prime by then. You' ll see deer eat the tops off the beggies as the season goes on, but when neighboring crops are harvested and they have to forage for natural foods, then the beggie/carrots shine. they' ll actract for miles if you have a big enough area of them. mwe use to have a 40 acre field of them while I was a youngster. didn' t see alot of deer in them until fall, then after frost came, they showed up in droves, they' ll dig major holes to get at em. Try them, you won' t be dissapointed. PS, if your soil is extremly hard, the THUMBELINA variety carrot works well. There tiny(golf ball size ) and only need about 2" of soil to grow in. Steve

RE: Rutebagga
 

Another question: Are they planted as seeds or transplants. Do you broadcasst or row plant? The soil; what PH is best and how fertile should the soil be. As our summers here in MS can be extremely hot and humid can that affect the crop. I do know that I cannot grow Rhubarb here, it just withers and dies.

Russ

RE: Rutebagga
 

Russ, your location is definatly warmer than here in northern Mn, but you should still be able plant beggies. We fortunate here that most our soil is around 7.0 ph, so other than alittle granular fertilizer, we don' t do anything to our soil. Generally if your planting beggies as a crop or in a garden, you' d row plant them. In our woods patches, we' ve done both row and just throwing the seed, with row plantinf having better germination, but you will get germination by throwing the seeds out and making sure they get covered with some soil to germinate in. About 1/4-1/2" covering is all you need. If you do carrots, they only need about 1/8" covering. In our small plots, when we plant the seeds, I like to bring in a couple pickup loads of composted manure, just dump and drag around with the atv pulling a drag of some sort. This is " GREAT" way to add nutrients and works good to cover the seeds. Steve

RE: Rutebagga
 

i am little confused about how long they take to mature or when I should plant for my area. We have frost until Mid May and that is when we typically plant most things. Our bow season does not start until mid October. Drought for us is typically not a problem during our summer months. Our temperature never gets above high 80s and we get plenty of rain through August. The majority of the land is wooded so there are no competing crops except my 5 acre clover patch. If I wanted these things for a draw in mid October and later what are your recommendations when I should plant. I can plant most things in August and still get adequate rainfall. Thanks.

RE: Rutebagga
 

Wig, plant them in early June. They' ll be done growing by bowseason,but they' ll be fine for the deer after frosts come anyways. We have snow on the ground now, and my one plot with beggies in is getting hit hard by the deer pawing to get at' em. You' ll find that the beggies draw more deer in " AFTER" most everything else has died/dying. They should be considered a late fall food source(atleast that' s my experience). The deer will paw at them well into winter as long as there are still a few beggies left.Steve