TOPIC: Something is pulling my seedlings up

First seeding of a wooded hillside in central KY. They have started sprouting in the wild. Interesting note: I potted about 50 seeds just to get an idea what they look like as sprouts, got 100% germination - good job, wildgrown! Excellent seeds.

Anway, I marked the sprouts with sticks so I can monitor them, and a few have been pulled up. Leaves and stem, lying on the ground, like something plucked them. They don't look chewed on, just plucked out of the ground.

Any idea what is doing this? I have a game camera on order, plan to put out some of the potted seedlings and set the camera on them.

Yes, there are wild turkey in the area. Is that the guilty party? I thought they only went after the berries.

johno, where is central Kentucky? I am in central also and have a lot of turkeys as well.

mhowa

Well, the loss seems to have tapered off. Have lost maybe two more, while I'm seeing a lot more sprouts. I think the dry/hot spring discouraged them, the recent spell of cold and rain really seems to be bringing them out.

Very haphazard, how they're coming up. I'm getting clumps of them in some areas, nothing in others, and darned if I can see any difference in the soil or moisture. A lot of sprouts where we dropped seeds in the erosion buildup on a 4 wheeler trail I cut across a hillside. Can't find any where the periwinkle came up thick. Note to myself: when seeding next fall, do a better job of recording where I put the seeds. These little rascals are hard to spot.

I got a trail camera (Moultrie sells refurb units fairly cheap) and put it on one clump of sprouts, so far the only thing it's recorded has been me walking around. Got me to thinking - this is an IR unit that's invisible at night, but they also sell cheaper units with a strobe flash. I might set a couple of those out to see if they'll scare the turkeys off. Doesn't take much to make one run.

Johno, I have just 2 yrs planting experience so far doing the rake back leaves, scatter seeds and cover over method mostly and this is what I have seen so far...
Try to avoid planting in heavy oak woods. Go for the maple, poplar, hickory, and beach environment. Btw these are usually the more northern hills and darker woods I have noticed anyhow. But if you do rake and scatter then I suggest dicing up the leaves a bit in your hands and not tossing down heavy clumps of leaves, especially real wet ones. You have to figure that between the leaves you toss plus more that fall, depending on your timing when you plant, that can be a LOT of leaf cover. Also avoid low places where you plant. Go for the \"cresty\" or \"knoll\" part of your terrain. It will be less likely to have the thickest leaves come spring. Maybe others experience is different but I did notice oak areas where I planted came up thinner.