Overseed Foodplots

[hilljec]

Some of our plots aren't coming up to great, planted the last weekend in September and we have had a horrible drought in AL. We need to overseed a few plots and some small spots on others.

Plots were originally planted with Coker Oats, Cereal Rye, Austrian Peas, Red Clover and Daikon Radish. Clover & Radish are coming up the best in all of the plots.

What would be the best to top sow with the rain coming this weekend and next week?

 

[Charlieyca]

rye, Did the same thing 2 weeks ago in the bare spots right before a rain. No cultipacking, no dragging just broadcast and they came up great is the bare spots. it does grow a little slower now that it is colder.

 

[BradB]

Rye is your friend. I am also a Bama guy and have dealt with the same drought conditions you have. Some of my early planted fields (late September) did OK as they were planted the day of our last rain until a week or so ago. However, on a trip up about a month ago I overseeded everything including some fresh fire lanes with Rye as insurance.. I will be up there in 3 days and hope to see lots of green.

 

[j-bird]

Rye can be a great addition, but other cereal grains tend to rank higher in deer preference per the experts. Oats and wheat can also be considered. I would assume you would not need the cold hardiness of rye with you being in AL - I can get winter wheat to survive my winters here in IN just fine. Rye does tend to grow virtually anywhere so it does have that going for it as well.

 

[Mitch]

i'm pretty sure rye could grow on the moon....i'd try that

 

[Charlieyca]

In a winter like last year, my rye continued to grow and never really went dormant. Maybe hedge your bets and plant a mix of rye for germination and wheat or oats for attraction. I have rye 12" tall in the bed of my truck as we speak.

 

[lakngolf]

As others have said, rye will definitely do something between now and mid Feb for hunting season. As cheap as it is I would throw out some feed wheat and see what happens.
We overseeded with rye during Thanksgiving week so I am hoping for some good green fields soon
And War Eagle!! Do you think this new JUCO quarterback could be read for the bowl game? ha

 

[hilljec]

Thanks guys! We are going to hit them with some Rye and leftover Coker Oats this weekend, along with 75#/AC of 34-0-0 to boost the nitrogen.

 

[The Famous Grouse]

Rye is good, but for reasons I don't understand, the deer at my farm will crawl over broken glass to get to oats. They just love oats. Not that they don't eat the rye eventually, but they certainly clean up the oats first.

Grouse