Replant or SOL till Fall?

[Leftridge]

So, I planted a mix from the local seed store April 1. Certainly a bit early by a few weeks but I was trying to time the rain. Well, it rained and then no more for three weeks. Some seed germinated, some didn't. Three weeks later we got more rain then agaion maybe a week later. Another round of seeds germinated and I had peas, beans, and buckwheat coming up good..

I asked a few weeks ago how long peas and beans would stay at the two leaf stage..Because it was like they were stuck there. We have about 4 inched of rain a week ago and I thought certainly things would shoot up.. Well, the weeds sure have.. But, the pea have made NO progress beyond the two leaf stage and in fact some sort of insects have pretty much wiped out the peas.. I mean completely eating the leafs.. Maybe grass hopers I don't know..

Is seems that the soybeans are not getting affected just the peas.. I'm really at a loss and and a bit disolusioned by the whole foodplot event this spring..

What would YOU do? Replant? Wait till August for fall plots? If I did replant should I try to kill everything off or just disk it all in?

Man, I'm pretty bummed.. We put it so much work for this spring plot..

[Moose]

Did you innoculate? or fertilize?

[Leftridge]

Did you innoculate? or fertilize?

Oh ya.. PH 6.2.. Disked in lime, fertilizer.. Innoculated @ planting..

[mhbaseball]

Man I loved what u did and thought u did a good job....sucks it didnt come up bc thats ALOT of money!!!!! I feel bad for ya. It looked really good, but rain is the biggest factor in a successful plot. I dont have any advice, sorry

[extremehunter]

may be a little late planting again....Depends on if you can get some more rain...I would try again.just my o2

[cooksomerice]

For what it is worth, I would not plant again. If the plot is dead, I would disk everything in now, before the weeds head out and drop this years seeds. Keep your plot clean this year and weeds will be less of an issue next year.

[Leftridge]

Well, I talked to two different seed companies, Turner, who I used for the seed and MBS here in Denton. They both said the same thing..

The plot got stunted growth from the cold temps through the month of April.. It would have never recovered..

Wished I had know that three weeks ago..

So, they both thought that I should replant just straight iron/clay peas.. Its cheap enough.. Guess I'll be planting again this weekend.. What a bummer...

[Jp.]

Well, I talked to two different seed companies, Turner, who I used for the seed and MBS here in Denton. They both said the same thing..

The plot got stunted growth from the cold temps through the month of April.. It would have never recovered..

Wished I had know that three weeks ago..

So, they both thought that I should replant just straight iron/clay peas.. Its cheap enough.. Guess I'll be planting again this weekend.. What a bummer...

The cold snap Is what I thought it might be.
peas are so hard to judge and get to work for a feed plot.Ive never had much luck with them.Either the ph isnt right or a late freeze or the deer just wont let them come to pod.I had a argument with a guy on another site before about this and now I really dont visit that site much anymore because those folks just dont want advise.
I know our soil (Ours is sandy clay)is different but we planted a chicory mix because it is drought resistant and you can run with a ph of 5.5.

[Leftridge]

The cold snap Is what I thought it might be.
peas are so hard to judge and get to work for a feed plot.Ive never had much luck with them.Either the ph isnt right or a late freeze or the deer just wont let them come to pod.I had a argument with a guy on another site before about this and now I really dont visit that site much anymore because those folks just dont want advise.
I know our soil (Ours is sandy clay)is different but we planted a chicory mix because it is drought resistant and you can run with a ph of 5.5.

Do you think that the deer will like your chicory? I've heard a lot of deer don't like it, and its expensive...

[jbhlsu]

I gave up on Spring plots years ago for the same reasons. Wait till fall and you dont have to worry about weeds......never know about rain in Texas. Dont get to down yourself b/c food plots are not easy.

[tex4k]

One other option is to keep the field mowed if you have the time and equipment. It's not what you were trying to accomplish but right now the deer in this area are seeking out anything with the new succulent growth, each time you mow everthing would start the growth process over again and would help keep seed production to a minimum, during the warm months then you plow and seed for your fall plot.

[Russ79]

I missed the March rains. Overseeded four foodplots that had oats and clover and planted two new plots with cowpeas. Haven't had any rain since I planted. Needless to say the overseeded plots did nothing and the two new plots got up about two inches and now they are dying for lack of water. What a waste of money.

[Jethro]

The way I understand what you are saying is the peas got wiped out, but you still have buckwheat and soybeans? Or did they wipe out the peas AND beans and now you just have a thin stand of buckwheat? If that is the case I think I would just spray/disk and run a round of straight buckwheat for organic matter building and weed control this summer.

I am double cropping buckwheat on my plot this summer just for that very reason. It is cheap and has a short maturity. My first round has been planted for about a month, at the 12 day point it was coming up real well and then we got another good rain on it just when it needed it. Soil temp was about 62 when I planted, but was up into the low 70's within a week. I plan to let the first round go untill about the first of July and then if it looks like there may be moisture available I will broadcast more seed and just mow the first crop down over the top of the seed, not even till it. I will let that run untill time for my fall plot in September. I plan to go out sometime this week and check it out to see how it is coming, I will post some pics when I get a chance.

[wellingtontx]

I would hold off and not re-plant. Like what was said above, keep it mowed if you can. In August, spray and then disk to get it ready for a fall food plot.

[Leftridge]

The way I understand what you are saying is the peas got wiped out, but you still have buckwheat and soybeans? Or did they wipe out the peas AND beans and now you just have a thin stand of buckwheat? If that is the case I think I would just spray/disk and run a round of straight buckwheat for organic matter building and weed control this summer.

The peas seemed to be the worst hit.. The deal is Turner seed recommended I use 20# per acre.. So the stand was really thin.. I didn't spray for weeds (didn't know I needed to) so the whole thing is FULL of johnson grass and weeds.. The buckwheat is thin because its only 11% of the mix.. If I were to do it over I would have planted twice the recommended amount.. Though I would have lost twice as much seems like..

Going to spray this weekend and kill it off.. Probably replant.. Maybe some in buckwheat..

I know alot of QDMA folks are doing what your talking about..