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Post by coop on Feb 5, 2018 22:38:02 GMT -6
70% of the Sugar Beets bulbs are partially eaten. I’m a little disappointed in the lack of late season interest. What if you tried to grow small bulbs, any chance they may be more palatable. Maybe huge is not better? I made the comment earlier that “I had hoped for better late season utilization”. I said this before reviewing camera cards. It turns out there are quite a few deer picking thru the Sugar Beets on a daily basis. They haven’t really touched the smaller bulbs since the ground froze. Seems like the bulbs sticking up the highest have been eaten most. A late summer planting might be good. My concern would be moisture. Extended dry weather seemed to be pretty hard on them. They’d get some rain and the beet would replace the wilted leafs with new growth. I figured the deep taproot contributed to their survival.
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Post by coop on Feb 5, 2018 22:40:56 GMT -6
^^ I think the bulbs with a lot of beet sticking out of the ground get eaten simply because they’re accessible. Haven’t seen any pawing in the frozen dirt.
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Post by jbird on Feb 8, 2018 11:50:30 GMT -6
So the $100,000 question thus far is......are they worth it? The RR ones seem to be fairly difficult to get, they seem to require decent weed control and moisture, but do seem to handle some heat stress. They seem to be eaten, but maybe not as heavily as one would have expected or desired..... Are they a kill plot sort of food source or winter survival food source? Would you do it again vs another crop planting?
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Post by Sandbur on Feb 8, 2018 19:36:48 GMT -6
So the $100,000 question thus far is......are they worth it? The RR ones seem to be fairly difficult to get, they seem to require decent weed control and moisture, but do seem to handle some heat stress. They seem to be eaten, but maybe not as heavily as one would have expected or desired..... Are they a kill plot sort of food source or winter survival food source? Would you do it again vs another crop planting? I have planted a few rows of both kinds of beets. Neither received more than a few bites. Radishes got slightly more use.
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Post by nhmountains on Feb 8, 2018 20:06:30 GMT -6
So the $100,000 question thus far is......are they worth it? The RR ones seem to be fairly difficult to get, they seem to require decent weed control and moisture, but do seem to handle some heat stress. They seem to be eaten, but maybe not as heavily as one would have expected or desired..... Are they a kill plot sort of food source or winter survival food source? Would you do it again vs another crop planting? I have planted a few rows of both kinds of beets. Neither received more than a few bites. Radishes got slightly more use. Art, Do you think it was because they were eating standing corn instead?
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Post by Sandbur on Feb 9, 2018 7:32:43 GMT -6
I have planted a few rows of both kinds of beets. Neither received more than a few bites. Radishes got slightly more use. Art, Do you think it was because they were eating standing corn instead? In the recent case they did have standing corn. In the case of about 15 years ago they did not have standing corn close by.
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Post by nhmountains on Feb 9, 2018 7:40:06 GMT -6
What do you think they are eating instead? There must be a more preferred food source or food location that they are eating.
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Post by kabic on Feb 9, 2018 9:07:21 GMT -6
I cant see the hassle of sugar beets if they are just going to rot. I will stick to Turnips and Radishes and let them rot and keep a few dollars in my pocket.
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Post by Foggy on Feb 9, 2018 11:33:29 GMT -6
I cant see the hassle of sugar beets if they are just going to rot. I will stick to Turnips and Radishes and let them rot and keep a few dollars in my pocket. I've planted sugar beets three times. I've had poor results.....likely as a result of my own doing. You gotta use your best ground, make a great seedbed, and plant according to needs, get adequate fertilizer and amendments, keep the weeds down for young plants, and get timely rainfalls. ou You cannot mess up on weed control and proper seeding. If you can do these things I think you can succeed with sugar beets. If not (I'm guilty) then you likely will fail. FORE!
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Post by kabic on Feb 9, 2018 11:47:46 GMT -6
I cant see the hassle of sugar beets if they are just going to rot. I will stick to Turnips and Radishes and let them rot and keep a few dollars in my pocket. I've planted sugar beets three times. I've had poor results.....likely as a result of my own doing. You gotta use your best ground, make a great seedbed, and plant according to needs, get adequate fertilizer and amendments, keep the weeds down for young plants, and get timely rainfalls. ou You cannot mess up on weed control and proper seeding. If you can do these things I think you can succeed with sugar beets. If not (I'm guilty) then you likely will fail. FORE! so besides being expense sugar beets are really hard to grow maybe that is what adds to the expense. Lets say you work hard and get some luck and they grow great. If the deer clean them up it may be worth that time and expense but it seems from all the posts here I can get the same usage with less time and expense with the PTT and Radish. That is the take away I have at least.
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Post by jbird on Feb 9, 2018 15:06:23 GMT -6
I've planted sugar beets three times. I've had poor results.....likely as a result of my own doing. You gotta use your best ground, make a great seedbed, and plant according to needs, get adequate fertilizer and amendments, keep the weeds down for young plants, and get timely rainfalls. ou You cannot mess up on weed control and proper seeding. If you can do these things I think you can succeed with sugar beets. If not (I'm guilty) then you likely will fail. FORE! so besides being expense sugar beets are really hard to grow maybe that is what adds to the expense. Lets say you work hard and get some luck and they grow great. If the deer clean them up it may be worth that time and expense but it seems from all the posts here I can get the same usage with less time and expense with the PTT and Radish. That is the take away I have at least. That was sort of where my post was aimed as well. I think under the right situation they may be great, but for the general person there may be better (easier/cheaper) options like turnips and radish. I have never grow beets, but would consider IF they where just an awesome food source in November. If not....I can go other routes and not mess with it.
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Post by nhmountains on Feb 9, 2018 18:14:19 GMT -6
For my area, bordering big woods with no ag, I had a great draw in November and December with winter rye. My brassicas were very small this year and were cleaned up earlier than normal. The green winter rye kept deer on my property. In normal years, the brassicas provide food for the deer on my land into January. The small isolated plots I have had daytime use all through the season.
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Post by nhmountains on Feb 9, 2018 18:21:52 GMT -6
70% of the Sugar Beets bulbs are partially eaten. I’m a little disappointed in the lack of late season interest. What if you tried to grow small bulbs, any chance they may be more palatable. Maybe huge is not better? I had purple top turnips that large last year that deer ate up little by little. They do prefer smaller bulbs that they can pick up and chew whole in their mouths. Same with apples. But, if they are hungry they'll work the large bulbs
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Post by coop on Feb 9, 2018 22:55:11 GMT -6
Pros: - They go in the ground the same time as Corn or Beans so planting can be done in one trip. There’s generally more reliable moisture in the spring. - eventually they canopy and choke out competition. - They push up a lotta new growth. Mine grew new leafs at least twice. - Deer liked them for a large window of time overlapping most of the hunting season.
Cons: - Seed procurement - gotta spray them twice - they require fertilization - they’re drought susceptible - but they bounce back. - I’m told they require good soil. - slow to canopy.
They out performed Radishes/Turnips in “Deer preference”. I’d do them again. I plant corn & beans so I’m spraying anyway. They performed “good not great”.
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Post by nhmountains on Feb 10, 2018 0:50:12 GMT -6
Coop,
I'd bet you'll have more use from them next year as they learn about them. I used to be able to grow large groundhog radishes but, now the deer eat them earlier each year so they never make it to maturity. They still allow the turnips to mature.
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