Turnips ?? When will the deer show interest ?

[ToadHill]

Around here, they murder my pumpkin patch. They chew a hole in the pumpkin and eat out the seeds.

 

[jonyyuma]

No problem here with Whitetail deer leaving turnips? They eat the tops then later the pods. they really like Sorgum stalks after the frost.

 

[schoolsout]

First time I planted turnips on our property was this year, but have a buddy about 45 mins away that has planted them the past few years. This is his third...deer don't mess with his too much, either. He always told me he's heard it takes about 3 years until the deer figure out what it is...I'm not sure I'm sold on that, though.

 

[foggy1111]

I have mostly planted a mix of purple top turnips, dwarf essex rape, and daikon radishes.

Whether the deer go after your turnips may depend on the time of year and what else is available to eat. If you have lots of oats, corn, or beans they may prefer those....especially before a hard freeze.

In our area the deer go after the radishes early on....and browse the DER leaves during the fall. AFTER it freezes the PTT turn to sugar and the deer chomp them very aggressively. At our place they will dig through 2 feet of snow to eat the turnips in Jan / Feb. They are pretty much gone in spring.....but any left will typically get eaten in early spring.

One of the good things about PTT is that the deer will leave them to grow until a freeze....at which time its HUNTING SEASON for us.

In mid winter some of our food plots look like a mine-field...from the deer digging for turnips.

 

[Kubotasan]

Deer never seem to bother my turnips. I have planted then 2 years now.

 

[Don87]

Deer never seem to bother my turnips. I have planted then 2 years now.

The deer may not know what they are. Try digging a few, cut them in half(that will get the smell going), and lay them on the top of the ground on top of some you have partially uncovered.

Proper training will get the deer started in the turnips:thumbsup:

 

[EddieWalker]

You mean they will actually eat the turnip?

I've been planting crimson top turnips for a few years now, and found that they will eat the tops as they walk by them, but they dont' stop to eat them. I've been told that they have to freeze first, then the sugars come out, which makes them appealing to the deer. I assumed it was in the greens.

I have wild hogs on my land and they ignore them completely. I have a wild hog for a pet who eats most anything, but he will not touch a turnip even after I cut it into pieces for him and sprinkle corn on top of it.

Eddie

 

[schoolsout]

I've got a patch with Rape/Turnips in it and it hasn't really been touched...the other plot with chicory/clover and some rape I put out when I ran out of chicory seed has seen some action...the rape has been decimated.

Wondering if rape tastes better than the turnip greens at this point?

 

[Western]

I tried turnips twice without much interest from my deer. May have not been enough time for them to learn a new food source. Oats seem to always work where ever they'll grow though, so that is what I pretty much stick with as the main coarse.

 

[PLUMMER]

Whats in your soil is what your nips & radishes taste like. What we have found was good fertile soil with good mineral content makes a big difference with brassicas. you could have what appears to be a good looking plot and bulb size but the dirt doesn't have the micro nutrients. I found that micro nutrient fetilizers really help in more ways than just growth and good CEC. Delta Ag is a brand name but you can find much cheaper brands at the elevator that break down fertilizers and soil nutrients to forms that plants can more readily uptake the nutrients. I have 1 plot that no matter what grows, weeds included the deer eats it to the dirt. Brassicas are cheap and very easy to grow with big yields.