So today I sprayed about a 20 yard by 30 yard area. Just looking to make a small plot for winter, just to test things out. I don't have equipment, and can only handle so much on my own. I want to put in like turn ups or some type of winter mix. Was told turn ups take pretty easy. My questions are: 1-How long till I should put some lime/fertilizer out 2-Roughly how much (no soil test) 3-How long after should I plant Thank you all so much in advance. Hopefully soon I can afford some used equipment and do things a lot better. Right now I am just trying to make a small panic plot, for if I still have a buck tag come late season.
because he just sprayed it today. by the time the veg kills down and he can rake/work the soil, it will most likely be to late for turnips
Burndown should only take a week, turnips are like a 60 day crop, I don't know what their average first frost date is but he should have plenty of time for turnips yet, they are somewhat cold hardy too.
If you are going to throw down some turnips I would recommend Honey Hole by Antler King. Shameless plug but its what I plant. With that said the recommendation is 300 lbs of 19-19-19 per acre and generally 1 ton of lime per acre if you don't know the PH. I usually get 10-10-10 because its easy to find and put down about the same. There are 4840 sq. yards in an acre. Your plot is 600 sq yards. so you would need about 18.6 lbs of fertilizer and about 247.9 lbs of lime. I would mix in some annual rye grass/oats just in case the turnips don't take. If you get them in the ground 45 to 60 days before ether first hard frost you should be fine. The bulbs won't get real big but the leaves should grow. If the deer dent eat em you can cut some for turnip greens. If you have not already mow the plot this weekend and throw down your lime and fertilizer then rake it in. In another week (2 weeks after spraying) throw down your seed and rake it in. Then walk all over it or drive your mower all around it. Want to get good seed to soil contact. Last thing is to pray for moisture. Here the humidity take care of that after the sun goes down. I am in the middle of doing the same thing but am using a push mower. That sucks!! Good luck and let us know how things go!!
Awesome that was great information thank you!!! Yeah I should not have a frost until early November most years. Sometimes late oct we get a random one, but not a hard frost I don't think. Last question, I already have some 10-10-10 fertilizer, can I just double the suggest weight to put down, or does it not work like that? lol
true. i get to caught up on the way things go in northern MN. certainly can give the turnips a go and if they don't take (no rain), than can go with the oats/rye in 4-5 weeks.
Thanks for the tip for sure! Always great to have a back up plan. The bag of turn ups says 3lbs for a half acre. Does that seem right? Doesn't sound like much, not sure if its meant to be mixed with another seed or if that's the right amount.
This was my first year planting turnips and I put them in too tightly (at least I'm pretty sure I did). Here's 2 weeks growth so far, they're about an inch to an inch and a half tall in this photo. I think I'll still get tops for deer to eat, but I don't think I'll get much of a taproot.
Awesome! I will make sure to stick to the lower amount then! Is it a good idea then to mix something like rye grass/oats in then to help fill in some gaps or will they choke the turnips out?
Just use Milorganite at 4 parts Milorganite to 1 part seed. Shake them together in a can to mix up and you will have the best turnip plot ever. Been doing this for years in the same 1 1/2 to 2 acre plot and producing tons of food for the deer. Milorganite is only 4 % nitrogen so it basically acts as a filler so you get a nice even spread which is not to thick or thin. It also helps to jump start the seed. (I will mention that this year in part of the plot I am going to spread urea which is 46-0-0 (all nitrogen) once the plants are coming in well. I want to see what happens and the difference with using extra nitrogen vs not using it.)
