Whitetail Oats PLUS – An Ideal Nurse Crop for Fall-Planted Perennials By William Cousins Photo by Charles J. Alsheimer
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lanning on planting a perennial food plot this fall? It’s a great idea because of the many benefits perennial food plots provide. If you do plant a perennial this fall, then you should definitely consider planting Whitetail Oats PLUS as a nurse crop with it. As you’ll see, doing so can yield some substantial benefits.
At the outset, it may be beneficial to define exactly what we’re talking about when we say “nurse crop.” Basically, a nurse crop is a fast-growing secondary crop that’s planted with a primary crop in the same seedbed. Here, we’ll be discussing planting Whitetail Oats PLUS as a nurse crop for a fall-planted Whitetail Institute perennial as the primary crop. Whitetail Oats PLUS is an absolutely ideal nurse crop for this application. That’s true for several reasons. All Whitetail Institute food plot perennial seed products are designed to emerge and establish rapidly. Whitetail Oats PLUS does so even more quickly and, as a nurse crop, will help the food plot green up even faster and start attracting deer as soon
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after planting as possible. Its rapid emergence, vigorous growth and extreme attractiveness also allow Whitetail Oats PLUS to take much of the early browsing pressure off the young perennial crop. If rainfall is ideal after planting, both the perennial and the Whitetail Oats PLUS will perform together, offering a variety of food options in the same food plot. Planting a nurse crop of Whitetail Oats PLUS with perennials in the fall is also a great way to hedge your bets against the chance that Mother Nature will minimize rain after planting. Annuals by nature establish more quickly than perennials, so planting a nurse crop of Whitetail Oats PLUS with fall-planted perennials can act as a
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