The Best Seeds for Shady Kill Plots?

I’m trying to put in one to two kill plots this year. I was wondering what are some of the best veggies to plant for deer in a shady to filtered light situations?

I will be doing everything on a very low budget and only with hand tools. Ideally I would want something that will be green when everything else has turned brown. These will be too small of plots to add tons of nutrition, simply a means to put deer near my stand on a more regular basis.

Do I need to plant around August if I want them to not turn to mush by the time November rolls around?

KentuckyBoy

Clover or rye is the only thing I have had success with in low sunlight areas and even rye doesn’t do that well. I would try a white clover of some sort as they do best with limited sunlight.

Is opening up the canopy to improve the sunlight and option? If so that would increase your options of what to plant.

If I knew you were looking I would have had some for you. My extra is way up north. Call me tonight. I can pick up some rye for you where I buy mine and bring it with me this weekend if you want.
DT

I was going up early Saturday to swap cards on the camera and hang stands. I was sort of think about next year….maybe a last minute plot this year if I find a great seed for my situation.

we used groundhog radish in our food plots in central Iowa,the spots we had were fairly shaded. only took about one and half to three pounds for an acre,this was sown in mid august and staid green up to a hard frost,the groundhog radish will get to the diameter of a pop can,and up to three feet deep,this really does the soil good as it brings the nitrogen up from the three foot level to the four inch mark in top soil and it promotes good drainage due to the size and depth of its root. we also threw in some turnip seed,hence the difference in the amount per acre.
the deer hung around these food plots all winter,and in spring,they were still pawing it up after snow melt,and they were eating the left over leaves and stems.
we are going to put out around seven plots this year equaling six acres and will be using this again this year.

sticker wrote:

Is opening up the canopy to improve the sunlight and option? If so that would increase your options of what to plant.

Not for this year. The land owner has talked about cutting out some more trails to make getting around easier. I’ll be sure to suggest a couple of clearings to be able to put down some seeds.

I currently have a spot right next to one of my stands with lots of sun. On May 9th I raked up the leaves and scraped the ground as best I could. The soil was verry black and loose. I spread some purple top turnips and daikon radishes. we had rain the next day followed by a couple of frosts a little over a week later. I’m betting the sprouts died. If so I would be putting down more of the same.