Late Summer - Sheild Plants?

[SFAbowhunter]

Looking for something that I can plant in late August in Arkansas that will sheild the deer when they are in my food plot away from the road where all of the lease members drive through. I just want to make them feel as safe as possible while feeding in there. My plan is to put the food plot as far away from the road as possible, but it'll be less than 100 yards from it and during rifle season there are quite a few people coming through there. I did manange to shoot and see quite a few deer in the area, but everything was just before last light or too far back in the woods.

Are there any plants that I could plant in the late summer that would get enough growth to get lets say 5-7 foot tall that I could plant when planting the food plot?

I appreciate all of the help!

I would have planted something this spring, but had too much going on to get out there in time.

[unclefish]

Egyptian wheat. It works great and will grow 12 feet tall if given enough time and nitrogen. You need about an 8 foot wide strip of it.

Last year I planted EW on Sept 18 last year and it got to about 3 feet tall before a freeze killed it sometime around Nov 11.

Give yourself at least 2 solid months after it has germinated to get tall enough. A good dose of N when its about a foot tall will work wonders.

You can order EW off ebay. 10lbs/acre seeding rate.

[SFAbowhunter]

I guess I'm going to have to get out to my lease in early August to get it planted in time to grow up enough then!

You think EW will be the fastest growing and tallest growing plant I could plant that late in the year?

[unclefish]

I guess I'm going to have to get out to my lease in early August to get it planted in time to grow up enough then!

You think EW will be the fastest growing and tallest growing plant I could plant that late in the year?

Yes all the tall sorghum varieties need roughly the same amount of time to reach that height. If you fertilize it when planted and after its a foot tall AND get good rainfall it might be a week quicker than 2 months.

The thing that makes EW so great is it grows taller and thicker than sudan sorghum.

[Boomerang]

The small issue you may have is the plants will recognize days becoming shorter and they just will not grow as fast or reach their potential. They may try to mature prior to producing the foliage you are seeking. I think you would be better planting now if you have the moisture then having the stalks remaining for cover. You may have noticed a hay field that is cut late July or early August in northern areas really doesn't rebound like it does after the first cutting in the longer days earlier in the year. Just some food for thought.

[unclefish]

The small issue you may have is the plants will recognize days becoming shorter and they just will not grow as fast or reach their potential. They may try to mature prior to producing the foliage you are seeking. I think you would be better planting now if you have the moisture then having the stalks remaining for cover. You may have noticed a hay field that is cut late July or early August in northern areas really doesn't rebound like it does after the first cutting in the longer days earlier in the year. Just some food for thought.

Very good points!!!

You may not get the rain in the late summer either. EW stalks will last well into next year if its planted in May/June.

[SFAbowhunter]

Well the only reason I was planning to wait until August was because I don't have access to a disk until then when my buddy is planning to plant food plots.

Do either of you think EW will be okay thrown in a section of standing pine without disking?

BTW, I apprecaite all of the help thus far!

[SFAbowhunter]

Ttt

[unclefish]

Well the only reason I was planning to wait until August was because I don't have access to a disk until then when my buddy is planning to plant food plots.

Do either of you think EW will be okay thrown in a section of standing pine without disking?

BTW, I apprecaite all of the help thus far!

It will germinate and grow by just broadcasting on bare ground after a rain.... but if the pines are tall and there's no sunlight it will be no bueno. Spray the area with Round-up, broadcast, then pray for rain. You will need to up your seeding rate because the germination rate won't be as good as traditional planting.