Anyone in the south thinking about......

David

Active Member
Putting their plots in sooner rather than later?

I was dead set on waiting till September to watch the forecast, but right now is its calling for plenty of rain and high 80's for 2 more weeks.

Today is the first day i really thought about doing it....maybe 50% now and 50% later?
 
Brassicas may be Ok and clover if you expect rainfall and temps to remain constant but I would wait on the grains because they are going to mature out too much and not be as palatable when you really need them...

We are in the same pattern you are for temps but have had little rain. I have worked our ground on the hollow but have the other farm to do. I may put in a few brassicas by this weekend but going to wait on everything else until the end of this month...
 
Sowed some rape, purple top turnip, crimson clover and fertilizer in three remote plots Sunday. Weather says rain for the next week. These plots had been planted in a legume and sudan sorghum mix. The only thing left in the plots was a good stand of sudan and lots of thatch from last winters rye and oats. So yes I started. Will add more to these plots in September.
 
We put in some clover plots this last weekend with the expectation of rain. So far we have had two good rains on the plots.

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No planting for me before mid-September here in S.E. Louisiana. Only two things can happen when planting before that, both of them bad. Either it grows well and gets too tough and much less attractive to deer when the season opens in November, or the new growth is entirely wiped out by Army Worms.
 
Thanks fellas. I appreciate your knowledge.

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I will plant my rape/turnip plots right after the 15th of August. In years past I have waited until September--but I can guarantee you a drought in mid-September to mid-October---and this has for years put my brassica plots at a big time disadvantage. So, no more of that crap. Will probably plant winter peas in August as well. Get them in the ground and not disturb it any more in order to bank the moisture for the Sept/Oct drought. Rye and wheat will wait til late September so not to try to bolt too soon in the warm weather we are sure to have to near Christmas.
 
Putting their plots in sooner rather than later?

I was dead set on waiting till September to watch the forecast, but right now is its calling for plenty of rain and high 80's for 2 more weeks.

Today is the first day i really thought about doing it....maybe 50% now and 50% later?

I planted some clover and brassicas today. I think I have less than a 30% chance of being successful. But, I'm cray and willing to take the risk. If it implodes I'll plant it again. I'll tell you why I did this. All the cropland around me got planted in corn this year. It'll be harvested by the end of the month, and IF, anybody plants wheat it won't happen until early to mid-November. So, there's a void that needs to be filled, or, that's my theory. IF I can get some brassica's going I might get a thank-you card in the mail?! The other thing is the possibility of hurricane spawned tropical rains that sometimes happen in the fall. If it happens as it did last year, I'll never get to the fields to plant my fall crops. There are lots of things to consider. Actual results oriented decision making would tell you to wait.
 
Putting their plots in sooner rather than later?

I was dead set on waiting till September to watch the forecast, but right now is its calling for plenty of rain and high 80's for 2 more weeks.

Today is the first day i really thought about doing it....maybe 50% now and 50% later?

Yes, I like the 50/50 idea. That will get it out of your system, and keep you from sleep walking through the house with a seeder.

The worst that can happen is that you will have to do the 50% again later. If a man can't afford losing 50% of a food plot, he has no business putting in one anyway.

I haven't taken a real vacation in 15 years, so I can look at it this way - Losing half a food plot is still a lot cheaper than going to Disney World. Go for it. As others have said, skip the grains. It's too early for them.

One more thing. A man will never learn anything by just following conventional wisdom - especially since a great percentage of conventional wisdom is wrong anyway. To learn and grow in wisdom, you have to boldly go where no man has gone before. Do it, and next year you could be giving advice rather than asking for it. The advice might be not to plant early, but it could also be that doing it turned out to be the cat's meow.

Last year I put in a clover plot in July, and it was the best clover I had in the fall. Why? Because I got great rains then, but went into a drought later when I planted another one at the "correct" time.

Best wishes with your plotting, and may the force be with you....
 
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I'm in the not yet camp. Of course wheat and rye will be most of my fall crops, so later is better, but I ain't ever trusted those lying weathermen !
 
I planted some clover and brassicas today. I think I have less than a 30% chance of being successful. But, I'm cray and willing to take the risk. If it implodes I'll plant it again. I'll tell you why I did this. All the cropland around me got planted in corn this year. It'll be harvested by the end of the month, and IF, anybody plants wheat it won't happen until early to mid-November. So, there's a void that needs to be filled, or, that's my theory. IF I can get some brassica's going I might get a thank-you card in the mail?! The other thing is the possibility of hurricane spawned tropical rains that sometimes happen in the fall. If it happens as it did last year, I'll never get to the fields to plant my fall crops. There are lots of things to consider. Actual results oriented decision making would tell you to wait.

Makes perfect sense to me. You thought it through, used solid reasoning and made a decision. Good luck with the plots.
 
Yes, I like the 50/50 idea. That will get it out of your system, and keep you from sleep walking through the house with a seeder.

The worst that can happen is that you will have to do the 50% again later. If a man can't afford losing 50% of a food plot, he has no business putting in one anyway.

I haven't taken a real vacation in 15 years, so I can look at it this way - Losing half a food plot is still a lot cheaper than going to Disney World. Go for it. As others have said, skip the grains. It's too early for them.

One more thing. A man will never learn anything by just following conventional wisdom - especially since a great percentage of conventional wisdom is wrong anyway. To learn and grow in wisdom, you have to boldly go where no man has gone before. Do it, and next year you could be giving advice rather than asking for it. The advice might be not to plant early, but it could also be that doing it turned out to be the cat's meow.

Last year I put in a clover plot in July, and it was the best clover I had in the fall. Why? Because I got great rains then, but went into a drought later when I planted another one at the "correct" time.

Best wishes with your plotting, and may the force be with you....[/QUOTE
I like your reply good answers,straight to the point and made me laugh.
 
Yes, I like the 50/50 idea. That will get it out of your system, and keep you from sleep walking through the house with a seeder.

The worst that can happen is that you will have to do the 50% again later. If a man can't afford losing 50% of a food plot, he has no business putting in one anyway.

I haven't taken a real vacation in 15 years, so I can look at it this way - Losing half a food plot is still a lot cheaper than going to Disney World. Go for it. As others have said, skip the grains. It's too early for them.

One more thing. A man will never learn anything by just following conventional wisdom - especially since a great percentage of conventional wisdom is wrong anyway. To learn and grow in wisdom, you have to boldly go where no man has gone before. Do it, and next year you could be giving advice rather than asking for it. The advice might be not to plant early, but it could also be that doing it turned out to be the cat's meow.

Last year I put in a clover plot in July, and it was the best clover I had in the fall. Why? Because I got great rains then, but went into a drought later when I planted another one at the "correct" time.

Best wishes with your plotting, and may the force be with you....

Great post Steve. There is a lot of good thinking in your post. And visualizing a man sleep walking with a seeder is keeping me laughing even a half hour after reading it. Boy would the wife be furious to find seeds virtually everywhere thru the house!!!
 
I try and plant no later than the middle of Sept, but always end up planting the around first week of Oct. Last year I planted one week after a rain(Sept 25) and it never rained again until into December. Luckily, the grain side did great once the rains started, but the brassica side failed completely. This year we have been getting rains pretty regular and I am hoping we won't have drought conditions again. That is one reason why I want to plant earlier this year, hoping to trap some rain and beat a drought if it happens.
 
I will plant my rape/turnip plots right after the 15th of August. In years past I have waited until September--but I can guarantee you a drought in mid-September to mid-October---and this has for years put my brassica plots at a big time disadvantage. So, no more of that crap. Will probably plant winter peas in August as well. Get them in the ground and not disturb it any more in order to bank the moisture for the Sept/Oct drought. Rye and wheat will wait til late September so not to try to bolt too soon in the warm weather we are sure to have to near Christmas.

Just a FYI, if you're in Georgia and you didn't plant your stuff in mid August, I think you are FUBAR until mid to late October.
 
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