Best thing to plant with cow peas?

[Cuz]

I've been planting just cow peas. They grow great, the hogs don't fool with em and the deer devour them once they pod. Here inlays my problem, the peas are all gone within a few days. So I was thinking maybe I should be mixing in something else that will last longer. Clover, lablab typs stuff, something like that? I'm in a mostly sandy soil area. Sit beans don't do well.
Thanks

[elgato]

Here in La. I mix cow peas with grain sorghum. The sorghum protects the peas while they are young then as peas mature they climb the sorghum. Once the sorghum goes to grain then the deer eat the seed heads.

[Cuz]

ttt

[EastTx]

I've had best luck with a mix of oats, sunflowers, and cowpeas. I

If you can read this picture I snapped with my phone, here are some suggested mixes from QDMA.

[Cuz]

Sun flowers eh? Can they be disked in with the oats and peas? Does it come in 50 lb bags?

[unclefish]

You can do several things...

Plant more acreage with the peas....usually anything under 2 acres or so has a great chance of getting wiped out early on.

Put up an electric fence to let them get big.

Plant Corn and Milo to help "protect" them. I'm not sure how well this works but it certainly will give them something for the vines to climb up. I mixed in some corn and milo with my peas/beans this year...we will see how it turns out.

[EastTx]

Sun flowers eh? Can they be disked in with the oats and peas? Does it come in 50 lb bags?

Yes all covered 1.5 to 2.5 inches. You can get them from most feed stores. Tractor Supply also carries them in big bags for bird seed labeled black oil sunflower. I have used those the past few years and they come up great.
Unclefish is right on the acerage part. Anything under 2 acres is probably going to get wiped out even if you plant a mix unless you have a way to keep deer off of them until they have second set of leaves. The good thing about the oats in the mix is that they will be there even after the peas are gone from deer or frost.

[Cuz]

Yes all covered 1.5 to 2.5 inches. You can get them from most feed stores. Tractor Supply also carries them in big bags for bird seed labeled black oil sunflower. I have used those the past few years and they come up great.
Unclefish is right on the acerage part. Anything under 2 acres is probably going to get wiped out even if you plant a mix unless you have a way to keep deer off of them until they have second set of leaves. The good thing about the oats in the mix is that they will be there even after the peas are gone from deer or frost.

And you are planting these in the spring right? You mentioned frost...

[tbgascorer]

If you have a lot of deer, you are fighting a losing battle unless you can fence or plant big acreages.

[EastTx]

Plant closest rain to Memorial day. I also use them in my fall mix planted in late August or early September. Thats when frost comes into play.

[Cuz]

If you have a lot of deer, you are fighting a losing battle unless you can fence or plant big acreages.

I understand what y'all are getting at. And the deer do destroy the peas when they pod. But my goal here is to plant something with is that is "ready" for the deer to eat either before or after the peas are ready.

[Mike Javi Cooper]

I like to mix cornbread, turnip greens and pork chops with my cow peas...

[tbgascorer]

I understand what y'all are getting at. And the deer do destroy the peas when they pod. But my goal here is to plant something with is that is "ready" for the deer to eat either before or after the peas are ready.

I've been exactly where you are at. The problem was that they will still nip the leaves off, even if you offer other goodies mixed in. Peas pop and leaf within days. The problem with legumes is that when the leaves get nipped, the whole plant dies. The only way I know of is fence or overwhelm them. We electric fenced and rebuilt many times due to break throughs. It was just too tough to maintain with the hungry deer. Oh and lack of rain is another story. Central Texas is too hot and dry to consistently produce good warm season food plots without irrigation. Some years, yes, but most years, no.

[Cuz]

Thanks tbga.



Anybody else?

[Cuz]

EastTx,
When do the deer eat the sunflowers? At what stage...