Sometime. No matter how it happen, weather, bugs, critters make the most of it. That's what I end up doing every year.Inevitably what can will go wrong. This year I planned my non round up beans. It's been a while since I did beans and knew from the get go a battle ensued. Equipment stall, now fail,my fault. Farmers around me changing their plans, time, and weather ,weather,weather. All these things can change how I prep and what I spray. You've seen my plots in another post an upper hill area and a lower hill area all in a 1300+' square mainly woods. To date all beans started great! To that only half are now growing. I under estimated the raccoons and even the deer in upper area. That's what the cams show. Strangely Fox as well. Surprisingly the shaded beans are doing the best and have been hit the least, In both areas. Now the sorghum isn't looking good in these plots and corn is gone with beans. I'm not sure if rain or depth caused this. The sorghum was both new and old seed. What is coming in are turnips. Yep fence line turnips I allowed to seed and got caught in drag are sprouting well. I have changed spray plans because this would kill and suppress those for years. What I did today was find the driest pods on plants pulled and spread them over the empty bean plots. I'll continue doing this until seeds are gone. Free seed just one plant produces thousands of viable seed. I always hold back these fence line plant just for this. I do the same with my rye. The rye isn't ready yet but I will harvest those seed to over seed plots in Sept.. Now this isn't big feild seed amounts ,but if you have bare spots or small bow stand spots is saves you money and even time. How to get those seeds is spread turnip seed a bit late in fence lines. Deer won't usually get these. Then just let them go to flower and seed. An entire plot can be made by doing this in a rye plot. Then allowing that all to go to seed cutting and dragging it all in the following summer. The upper bean plots were great clover, turnip, rye plots for 3 yrs on just one planting..adding clover and even buck wheat will cut fertilizing needs. Rye grows good in clover.
I honestly didn't have any real plot fails this summer. I have some real messes,due to a chemical fail and a delay in getting a chemical I've needed for years. The fail was with the 2-4Db DMA 200 It was a test on the cow peas because it's not listed for them...it also states for seedling alfalfa ,soybeans,and peanuts. There is a reason it said seedlings. Because anywhere,would bearing. It killed nothing and only wilted the dandelions. Of course the beans were pretty established before I decided to test an area. Now I have fields of invasive weeds all in seed. Not a fail in the fields,thou g h BECAUSE the weeds are all taller than the soybeans,hiding them but also when we get our first few frosts I will still have beans. The frost will effect the weeds covering the beans underneath. I'll be walking rye into these mess. Also some of the weeds coming in , have high nutritional values than the beans. I will battle the weeds and seed bank next spring and summer. Nothing will be planted here next spring. MAYBE...LOL
