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Turnips can be planted in late summer in northern climates or early fall in the southern states. Different turnip varieties produce different proportions of leaves and roots. Garden varieties tend to grow large roots and should be avoided.
When should I plant turnips for deer?
Plant Turnips in the Fall Generally, the best time to plant turnips when you’re using them to attract deer will be the fall. You want to plant the turnips for the deer before you experience your first hard freeze, and this means that fall is the best time.
What is the best turnip to plant for deer?
Purple Top Turnip a brassica family plant that deer love to consume. This nutritious turnip has the characteristic of growing with the globe exposed so deer have easy access to the entire plant in food plots. The plant and roots are nutritious and protein filled, readily consumed by deer.
Do deer like turnips or radishes?
Radishes and turnips are relished by deer in the first few weeks after the come-up, but plants put in during the spring or early summer are woody and less palatable by fall. Deer will eat the tubers as long as they can get dig them out of the frozen ground.
What is the best food plot for deer in Minnesota?
Annuals like corn and beans are expensive to plant properly, but hunt the right window in the right place, and they are the best Minnesota food plots for deer.
Can you plant turnips in the spring for deer?
Both turnips and radishes tend to mature much quicker when planted during the spring. This results in these crops becoming non palatable to deer rapidly. You might try buckwheat as the seed is relatively small and often grows well when broadcast into a good seedbed.
Do turnips come back every year?
The brassica family includes crops such as radish, kale, rutabaga, rapeseed, and broccoli. Like others in this vast family, turnips are a cool season annual and grow best during the cooler periods of the year. Late into winter when all other food sources are gone deer will keep coming back for the turnip roots.
How long does it take turnips to grow from seed?
Turnips are ready to harvest 40 to 55 days after planting. If harvesting the leaves, they are ready when they reach 4-6 inches in height. If only harvesting the leaves, cut them from the plant when they reach the desired size, leaving 1 inch of leaves above the crown of the plant. More leaves will grow in their place.
What do deer love to eat the most?
Food they absolutely love are: pecans, hickory nuts, beechnut acorns, as well as acorns. Fruits such as apples, blueberries, blackberries, and persimmons are also appealing to deer and satisfy their appetites.
Can I plant radishes and turnips together?
Like any root vegetable, turnips (Brassica campestris L.) do well along with carrots and radishes. They are easy to care for and can be planted either in spring, so you have turnips all summer, or in late summer for a fall crop.
Does human urine spook deer?
H. Koerth, human urine does not frighten deer. On a large lease, mock scrapes were created and different lures were used to attract deer. Scrapes are spots where bucks paw the ground down to bare earth and then urinate in them.
Are salt licks legal in MN?
Deer feeding has been banned in more sections of central Minnesota under the state’s updated response to the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD). Attractants can be natural or manufactured and include salt licks, mineral blocks, and items containing deer urine, blood, gland oil, feces or other bodily fluid.
Can you hunt over a food plot in MN?
Here in Minnesota, hunting deer over bait is illegal. Even supplemental feeding (or recreational) is discouraged by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Yes, food plots also concentrate deer to a certain extent, but not like a feeding station where an effortless meal is readily available.
Should you mow food plots?
Contrary to what many believe, maintenance on your spring food plots should not include mowing. As spring weather promotes growth of the food plots, the dormant grass and weeds also thrive. The old mindset is to cut down these plants to control their growth.
What fertilizer does turnips need?
How to Plant Turnips. Before planting, mix in a nice low organic fertilizer (such as a 5-5-5) about 12 inches into the soil. Avoid over-fertilizing with nitrogen or you’ll get leafy greens at the expense of a big root. Avoid a Miracle Gro or any high-nitrogen fertilizer.
Can you mow turnips?
If you’re growing turnips specifically for their large roots, it’s still possible to harvest greens, but you should pick a few at a time rather than cutting them all away. Removing all the greens down to root level will result in stunted roots.
How long do turnips take to grow?
Turnips are quick and easy to grow from seed, ready to harvest in as little as six to ten weeks. They like cool, moisture-retentive soil, in an open, sunny location.
Can turnips handle frost?
Root crops like carrots, turnips, beets, rutabagas and parsnips can remain in the garden after a frost and still be removed in good condition later, but get them dug and stored before the ground freezes.
What to plant after turnips?
Turnips are natural aphid repellents, protecting a wide variety of garden crops that are vulnerable to aphid invasion. Squash, tomatoes, celery, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, beans, onions, garlic, lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, cauliflower, and radishes all flourish when planted interspersed with turnips.
How long can I leave turnips in the ground?
They do rot after one week, so if you lose track of them after putting them in the ground, those Bells will be wasted and your storage efforts will be for nothing. Like we suggested to do inside the house, you may as well design parts of your island around turnips if you plan on keeping a lot of them.
