Planting time?

Curious about planting time for fall plots?
Ive got 3/4 of an acre bottomland, stays fairly moist, with the mild rainy weather we've had, would it be safe to plan now? Ive got 50# ga gore wheat, 5 lbs crimson clover, 5 lbs arrow leaf clover, 5 lbs durana, and 15 lbs winter peas.
Any thoughts?

Since you are planting Durana, I assume you are looking to create a perennial plot? If so, i would add a couple of pounds of chicory for a little variety, and maybe some oats for the same reason. My deer seem to key on oats first in the fall.

Well the durana is the only perenial, not aiming exactly for perenial but hope that will help with weed control in coming spring. Ive thought about oats, last year i planted, wheat, oats, triatcle (sp?) crimson clover, chicory, winter peas and rape, the deer ate nothing but clover, never got cold enough for the rape, the chicory never took, the wheat oats and rye took over.. So i aimed to stay thinner on the grasses.
Input is very appreciated!

bigblocktransam said:

Curious about planting time for fall plots?
Ive got 3/4 of an acre bottomland, stays fairly moist, with the mild rainy weather we've had, would it be safe to plan now? Ive got 50# ga gore wheat, 5 lbs crimson clover, 5 lbs arrow leaf clover, 5 lbs durana, and 15 lbs winter peas.
Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

did you intend to say "would it be safe to plant now"?

No.

Plant the mix you describe no sooner than the 2nd week of September, ideally either the last wk of Sept-1st wk of Oct, when rain is imminent in the forecast. (that last part can be tricky; Sept is the driest month, best bet is a big front or a tropical storm on the radar)

The plants you describe are cool season plants. It's yet a good while til "cool season". I kinda doubt Durana is gonna help you with spring weed control; it's pretty slow starting out, generally it's the other way around: you need to keep the weeds controlled so it doesn't get out-competed. You got rather a lot of seed for 0.75 ac, if it all takes. One other thing: if you don't intend to plant a perennial patch, plants like chicory & perennial clovers are real slow starting, & just when they start to develop well, it would be time to till it up; that's kind of expensive over time, & you never get the real benefit of using the plants. I'd pick either perennials or annuals & manage it accordingly.

Red clover might be a good alternative; it persists well in spring & is a little more competitive; in N. Ga it can last 2 years. The arrowleaf will get tall (& rank) & helps hold the weeds down in early spring on a lot of my plots.

What Forrest said^^. You will get alot of folks that say they plant now with no problem but its a big gamble with a lot of hot weather ahead and if you ever seen a plot the army worms hit that was planted early you wouldnt do it. Deer farmers are impatient and want to hunt over plots in bow season instead of farming, but farmers know better.

To add to what killdee said, army worms seem to be bad this year also. I have also seen oats that we're planted early that got big and tough by the late season. Deer prefer to feed on cereal grains when they are young and tender. Just something to think about.

I agree with the last 3 posts

Add some oats to your mix and plant next weekend. I have planted Labor Day weekend for many many years with excellent results.