sunflowers
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: mattandersen
21-Jun-19
silly question I can't seem to find the answer to online..I'm going to plant a variety of things in my backyard food plot. One of them is sunflowers. I have a 10lb bag of them. Do I have to plant them one seed at a time? A few per "hole"? I know I need to space them as they will hopefully grow large and tall but that will take all day to plant them one seed at a time. I don't have any special machines or tools. Any help would be appreciated.
From: Robear
21-Jun-19
I planted a three acre field one year. They did very well from simply tilling, broadcasting, and dragging.
From: Habitat for Wildlife
21-Jun-19
I had good results doing it just like Robear. GL.
From: wildan
21-Jun-19
We planted about 1-1/2 acres of sunflowers this year with a grain drill.This will be our third year and there is a learning curve. Sunflowers don't like to be crowded;so if you broad-cast go light and space them out and cultipack or roll in. Weed control is a must and a pre-emergent is recommended;we use Prowl.Cannot use a round-up type of weed control after plants are up.
From: mattandersen
21-Jun-19
Thanks guys! I will prepare a weed free seed bed, fertilize/lime etc and try broadcasting lightly. Otherwise I'll be planting one at a time for months haha
From: Catscratch
21-Jun-19
Sunflowers are super easy! These were grown by spraying gly, broadcasting seed, then mowing the dead vegetation down over the seed. Zero dirt work or planters were used. I don't even have a spreader that handles sunflower seed so I just take a bucket of seed and walk along throwing it by hand. Or even better is to give a couple of kids buckets of seed and tell them to have a seed fight... just have to stay in bounds. If you've never grown sunflowers you may end up disappointed if you don't protect them. Deer absolutely love to eat them and getting a stand to mature can be difficult.
From: Habitat for Wildlife
21-Jun-19
I broadcasted mine with my three point spreader, no agitator.
From: lewis
21-Jun-19
Very easy I have an acre of peredovik sunflowers just disked the ground sowed them my atv spreader and lightly disked them in 25 lbs does an acre good luck.they take about 100 days to mature Lewis
From: mattandersen
21-Jun-19
awesome to hear! I was getting frustrated for nothing lol I am planting a variety of crops so I hope the variety will keep the deer from devastating any one crop but understand they love sunflowers. Along with them I'm planting mean bean crush which is cowpeas, lablab and soybeans, a large tract of beets and greens, clover and winter rye. A deer smorgasbord!
From: Catscratch
21-Jun-19
I like your mix of plants! Even if the deer do eat them down they won't be wasted... there is good protein and nutrition in sunflowers and they will be eating them during antler and milk production months.
From: mattandersen
21-Jun-19
I am also surrounded by dairy farms with mostly corn, alfalfa/hay and some beans so I'm hoping they don't deplete all my crops!
From: Habitat for Wildlife
21-Jun-19
Matt,
I mixed mine with beans and they did great.
From: mattandersen
25-Jun-19
So I sprayed my acre future food plot with 41% glyphosate with the appropriate ratio of glyo/water and even added a surfactant. I actually went a little heavy on the glyo..I did this Saturday, it was a sunny dry day. Sunday and Monday were as well. I went to see it yesterday and it seemed as lush and green as it was before I sprayed it!? I read it can take 7-10 days to kill but figured it would've started to wither and yellow!? It is only grass/lawn that I'm trying to kill off. Should I be worried?
From: 35-Acre
25-Jun-19
Gly is definitely slow to take effect. Don't worry. 3 days is too soon. Right now that green stuff is protecting your seeds from birds. The seed will take hold after a rain and the Gly will be killing that stuff dead (brown/withered but maybe not fallen over) in the next few days.
From: Franzen
25-Jun-19
You can sometimes have issues with a plant not taking up glyphosate if sprayed on a hot dry day in the middle of the day. I doubt that happened in your case, but it is possible. If nothing is happening in another two days, I would re-apply. In addition, more mature plants/weeds tend to take a bit more time to really brown up.
From: t-roy
25-Jun-19
Glyphosate can take up to 2 weeks to really see its effects on certain plants. I wouldn’t get in too big of a hurry to reapply it just yet, Matt.
From: mattandersen
26-Jun-19
Ok thanks for the reassurance guys, I haven't done anything except for apply the sauce so far..wanted to till it this wknd assuming the grass was yellow and wilted. The PH read 7-7.5 in all the corners of the plot on a cheapo PH reader. If that is the case should I still lime? I snuggle with that boy every chance I get!
From: BullBuster
26-Jun-19
Those pH meters are worthless in my experience.
From: Mad Trapper
26-Jun-19
Planted sunflowers with cowpeas and lablab. Broadcast the peas and lablab then broadcasted the sunflowers with a hand spreader. Worked great.
From: mattandersen
26-Jun-19
Ya I'm not too confident in the handheld PH meter...my neighbor is a farmer and our land touches..he's got corn planted right next to my land. He said it's usually 5-7. I'll lime and fertilize anyways. Thanks guys!
From: scentman
26-Jun-19
Sunflowers will attract plenty of game, can't go wrong if you ask me.
From: Thornton
26-Jun-19
I used to buy ag sunflowers and spent s lot of money. Now I go buy a huge bag for $15 at Orschlens and the grow great. I just broadcast them after discing
From: Franzen
28-Jun-19
How's them weeds looking Matt?
From: mattandersen
01-Jul-19
Some dead/yellow and a few strips I must have missed..I can see why guys add dye to their mix! haha I sprayed again this wknd and started tilling where it was dead. I broke the rear axle on my quad so I'm gonna have to wait to till the rest until I get that fixed. I hope to have seeds in by mid month. I'll post pics as I get moving.
From: mattandersen
01-Jul-19
From: mattandersen
08-Jul-19
Were getting there..I have my son and my time is very limited so I get done what I can when I can. Hoping to have seeds in the ground this upcoming wknd
From: mattandersen
08-Jul-19
little bit more to till...
From: mattandersen
08-Jul-19
This is a pano pic from an iphone and Boone ran through so he looks kind of funny
From: Habitat for Wildlife
08-Jul-19
Great results! Keep us posted.
From: great white
08-Jul-19
I also live in Ohio And cant get sunflowers to knee high always devoured
From: mattandersen
09-Jul-19
Ya I'm hoping to get a few to grow tall but am aware they may not make it...with the variety I'm planting and all the surrounding corn and beans I'm hoping a few grow tall! I'm not really prepared for a fence so we'll see what happens and at least I'll be providing nutrition for them and get them coming round!
From: mattandersen
16-Jul-19
seeds are in! Just need some rain!
From: mattandersen
16-Jul-19
From: mattandersen
16-Jul-19
From: mattandersen
16-Jul-19
Pano pic! Love food plotting!
From: Habitat for Wildlife
16-Jul-19
It is addictive! Good luck!
From: mattandersen
26-Jul-19
Beets n greens are coming in thick!
From: mattandersen
26-Jul-19
From: mattandersen
26-Jul-19
the mean green crush isn't coming in as thick but looks to be coming in nice and evenly.
From: mattandersen
26-Jul-19
I have the sunflowers in a strip down the middle and one side of the plot and they seem to be growing nicely as well. Already have game coming into the plot. Deer, turkeys, many birds and even groundhogs!
From: mattandersen
26-Jul-19
Planning on broadcasting some clover and winter rye in any bare ground in early September
From: Junior
26-Jul-19
Picture was 1 1/2 weeks ago...4 acres of buckwheat and sunflowers. Buckwheat starts dropping seeds at 10 weeks to start attracting dove. Then the sunflowers take over. No herbicide used here, and Just some N.
From: RIT
26-Jul-19
Matt you should consider broadcasting the WR and clover over the entire plot not just the thin bare areas. You can never have enough root structures growing in the soil.
From: mattandersen
26-Jul-19
I will do that RIT! Nice looking plot Junior!
From: dnovo
27-Jul-19
I’ve been following this with interest. A couple weeks ago I worked up a plot and planted sunflowers with some other seed mixed in. Here it is a few days later. We have some good rains at the right time.
From: dnovo
27-Jul-19
This picture is the very next day after first picture
From: dnovo
27-Jul-19
And now 2 weeks later
From: Habitat for Wildlife
27-Jul-19
Junior, great dove plot!
Looking good Matt.
From: Junior
27-Jul-19
Planted May 22.
From: Junior
27-Jul-19
They are planted thick and as you can see by the size of the flower, we are lacking rain. Kinda wish I had planted a thinner stand. Just never know what mother nature will provide as far as rain.
From: Habitat for Wildlife
27-Jul-19
Ain't that the truth!
From: Junior
28-Jul-19
Glad we held back on the N or they would be smoked!
From: Thornton
01-Aug-19
I disced and broadcasted these "birdseed" sunflowers in June and they came up great.
From: mattandersen
01-Aug-19
Beets n greens are looking great!
From: mattandersen
01-Aug-19
mean bean crush looks like a low germination rate..maybe 30%. Both sides of plot prepared exactly the same. I have the sun flowers growing along one side and a strip down the middle
From: Junior
01-Aug-19
I'm not a fan of the crush seed! Idk whats up with them but have seen several poor stands. It's expensive to. You can buy commercial seed for half the price easily. Beets and greens looking Awesome!
From: Pat Lefemine
01-Aug-19
Understand that there is no magic in those hyped up deer head bags. Everything about them is designed by marketing people, not agronomists. All they do is take seeds bought from a distributor and then mix them together as if there’s some secret formula. And when they have leftover seeds they send them in subsequent years until the inventory is gone.
I just got my seeds delivered today by a distributor and I have no concerns that it’s quality, fresh seeds.
From: t-roy
01-Aug-19
Pat X2^^^^^^
I’m not a fan of seed blends, either. If the different seeds in the blend are approximately the same size, I’m fine with that, but usually there are some variety of seeds in those blends that are considerably larger than the rest of it. The hopper door has to be opened wide enough to allow the biggest seeds to feed out. You have to haul ass to get it all spread on your plot, or else the small seeds feed out way too quickly. I just finished seeding a brassica mix plot this evening. Turnips, Winfred brassicas, radishes, etc. I did the brassica mix first, then seeded the radishes after, as they were slightly bigger seeds.
Also, I wouldn’t give the Busbice clan a dime of my money, Lee & Tiffany notwithstanding.
From: t-roy
01-Aug-19
Forgot pic.
From: Habitat for Wildlife
02-Aug-19
Troy,
Yep, do your own blends and broadcast by seed size.
From: mattandersen
02-Aug-19
Great advice and I've heard about the "name brand seeds" not being so great...I just liked the variety. I will likely buy no name brand seeds moving forward. Idk the busbice boys were related...I'm not a fan of them either haha. I may have to get the clover and rye down sooner before the grasses take over. Think I should do that or wait till late Aug/Sept?
From: t-roy
02-Aug-19
Matt....I would wait till the end of August before seeding your rye/clover. IMO, the rye would get fairly tall and somewhat less palatable to the deer, if you plant it now vs late August. If you’re concerned about the grass taking over, you could spray it with glyphosate just prior to, or immediately after seeding.
From: mattandersen
02-Aug-19
IDK how that grass is growing..I sprayed (twice) and tilled the plot well but where the mean bean crush isn't growing, I see lots of grass growing. Can I spray the mean bean crush side of the plot with glyo? Do you know if it will hurt that? There are strips sunflowers in there as well I don't want to hurt. Should I just spray the grass and try my best to avoid anything I want to grow? I know certain seeds are resistant to glyo but not sure what..
From: t-roy
02-Aug-19
There are always new weed seeds that will sprout, even after spraying (depending on what herbicides you use), especially if you sprayed and tilled your plot after that. Most likely, the glyphosate would kill all of the plants in the MBC and your sunflowers as well. If you’re wanting to save the existing plot plants, your best option would probably just be to spot spray the weeds in your plot, and then seed your rye and clover before a good rain, if possible. You can broadcast into your existing sunflowers and MBC as well. If you get decent moisture, you’ll get some additional growth there as well.
From: mattandersen
02-Aug-19
Sweet I might try cleth on the grasses. That should kill the grass but leave the others. I'm hoping anyways. I'll do exactly that, broadcast through out the whole MBC half anyways right before forecasted rain
From: t-roy
02-Aug-19
You need to check and see if there is any residual from using the clethodim. I’m not sure if there is for certain. If there is, it will affect your rye, as it is a grass. Hopefully, someone who knows for sure, will chime in on this. You almost have to be a chemist anymore, Matt! ;-)
From: Junior
02-Aug-19
+1.....30 day wait for anything in the grass family after clethodim! Right on the label.
From: Thornton
03-Aug-19
From: mattandersen
05-Aug-19
thanks guys! I spot sprayed with the glyo as I had it on hand. I've got cleth on order. When it comes, I'll hit it and plant the rye 30 days later and the clover prob just before a good rain.
From: Scrappy
05-Aug-19
Scrappy's Link
http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/forums/dbltrees-corner.45/
Everything you ever wanted to know about food plots you will find at my link. An absolute goldmine of info.
From: t-roy
05-Aug-19
Couldn’t agree more, Scrappy. The late Paul Knox (Doubletree) was definitely a wealth of information.
From: Habitat for Wildlife
05-Aug-19
Yes he was!
From: mattandersen
05-Aug-19
Sweet thanks!
From: Mark Watkins
06-Aug-19
I sure miss Paul! I drove 14 hours to Iowa to meet with Paul at his home/property.
Spending a day with him was like getting my PhD in habitat and Critter Stewardship!!
A true gentleman Steward for sure!!!
Mark
From: mattandersen
12-Aug-19
So the beets n greens half of the plot is looking absolutely amazing and it's been a month. The mean bean crush only germinated I'd say 30% and I have lots of crab grass growing. I sprayed all the grass with Cleth saturday. Do you think it's too early to broadcast white clover? I will wait till Sept to broadcast the winter rye as a few have mentioned already. The deer are hammering the sunflowers haha as most have said they would. I'm hoping a few are able to grow!
From: mattandersen
12-Aug-19
The sunflowers are along the edge of the plot and are a bit taller. You can see the crab grass and bare dirt.
From: mattandersen
12-Aug-19
A few suggested broadcasting the clover and rye over the entire plot which I would love to do. With the beets n greens being so thick, will seeds even hit the dirt!?!?
From: RIT
12-Aug-19
Yes
From: mattandersen
20-Aug-19
Sunflowers are getting tall and the deer haven't eaten them all!
From: mattandersen
20-Aug-19
Things are growing well!
From: mattandersen
20-Aug-19
I never mentioned but I also have 4 heavy producing apple trees on my property as well! Apples are constantly falling...
From: mattandersen
20-Aug-19
Started an elevated platform this wknd
From: mattandersen
20-Aug-19
The cleth started killing off the growing crab grass. I will broadcast clover in a week or 2 then the winter rye in late sept or even october. So I'll have soy beans, cow peas, lab lab, clover, winter rye, sunflowers, beets and greens and loads of apples! Think its a great mix!
From: t-roy
20-Aug-19
Things are looking good, Matt!
Be careful when you’re hunting from that elevated stand. Looks like it would be easy to slip off of it ;-)
From: Habitat for Wildlife
20-Aug-19
Looks great!
From: Junior
20-Aug-19
Awesome Matt! Should be a huge draw, especially later on!
From: mattandersen
20-Aug-19
haha yes I'll be sure and fix that Troy! Very happy so far with the plot!
From: mattandersen
23-Aug-19
this pic was taken last thursday with Boone dog for reference
From: mattandersen
23-Aug-19
this was yesterday...one week the sunflowers grew a foot!
From: mattandersen
23-Aug-19
I bet they bloom anyday now
From: mattandersen
23-Aug-19
very happy with my plot thanks for all the help guys!
From: Catscratch
23-Aug-19
Looking good matt. Keep the pics coming!
From: mattandersen
23-Aug-19
enough apples to make 40 apple pies!
From: mattandersen
30-Aug-19
First one so far!!! Look close you can see a bee pollinating!
From: mattandersen
30-Aug-19
Some of the sunflowers are 4-5' tall! Lots more about to bloom!
From: mattandersen
30-Aug-19
The mean bean crush really has taken off lately..I'm going to broadcast white clover through out the plot Sunday as there is some possible rain fore casted then.
From: mattandersen
30-Aug-19
Boone dog running through the plot haha
From: mattandersen
30-Aug-19
I am getting pics of deer in the plot but overall they haven't eaten hardly any but when harvest time comes and things die off, I am confident they will hit it hard!
From: mattandersen
11-Sep-19
Well I feel it's safe to say the plot was a success and the sunflowers are just so fun to look at!
From: mattandersen
11-Sep-19
Elevated platform for my blind is done and sturdy as a rock
From: mattandersen
17-Sep-19
My thread seems to have lost interest haha question about my planting dates...I planted all my seeds in mid July. For my zone that was the earliest I could plant them. I'm wondering if the greens will be past maturity and not as palatable to the deer come Oct/Nov/Dec?? I know many fall plots have been planted in Aug/Sept.
From: Habitat for Wildlife
17-Sep-19
Matt,
It looks great.
From: Junior
17-Sep-19
Very nice! Only problem with any food plot imo is acorns during September. It seems when they start dropping the plot goes vacant. Idk much about greens, but timing is always a challenge no matter what your growing. We definitely try for staggered plant dates with beans. Our deer usually pick young tender over older plants .
From: mattandersen
18-Sep-19
Ok thanks guys ya acorns usually scatter deer but they haven't hit my plot too hard yet due to being surrounded by farm country..beans n corn all around. Hoping when harvest comes and things die off my plot will become more appealing to them. Just wondering if the greens will be as palatable as if I had planted them mid august or later even. Prob overthinking it but I'm happy with it regardless. I worked hard on it a few hours here and there. I certainly have a variety planted.
From: W
18-Sep-19
We had a decent dove hunt on our sunflower field. And our bears love it.
From: Junior
18-Sep-19
You may not get a whole lot of day time activities being that close to the house. Especially if you have a dog! 200 yards is about as close to the house as our deer will get.
From: mattandersen
19-Sep-19
They come right up to my apple trees during daylight and I've seen them in the plot too. Obviously I wish I had more land..limited to 2 acres and with my son I can take him and hunt the plot from the elevated blind I built.
From: Junior
19-Sep-19
Nice! Just trying to say you have a nice plot, and dont be discouraged if you dont see tons of deer.
From: mattandersen
20-Sep-19
THanks I won't..I am exited to see what happens as the fall progresses
From: mattandersen
08-Oct-19
Success! Opening day archery PA
From: aboks
08-Oct-19
Nice work Matt!
From: Habitat for Wildlife
08-Oct-19
Congratulations!
