Looks great. What type of prep work did you do? Any particular type of radish?

 

Looks great! Good job.

 

Looks great. What type of prep work did you do? Any particular type of radish?

The smaller plot had a sparse stand of white clover. Throughout the summer months I kept the weeds and grass down with light mixtures of gly. Before planting I spread roughly 300 lbs per acre ( according to my math LOL) of triple twelve and lighly disced leaving most of the clover. A 2nd light pass with the disc after broadcasting the brassicas.

The larger plot is new. I mowed then sprayed with gly 2 weeks later. For the next several weeks I spot sprayed until everything was dead, at this time I broadcast pelletized lime. Before planting I broadcast additional lime and roughly 300lbs of triple 19. Before the rain last week I broadcast additional triple 19, rye and ladino. We need more rain and cooler temps. These are just play plots on my little 7 acres, so no soil test, maybe next year. I would love to have plots like this on the farm I hunt.

I'm not certain on the radish type. I bought them from a bulk dealer and it was listed as forage radish. GHR maybe? I asked when purchasing but the clerk didn't know.

 

Congrats...looks like they are coming along nicely

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire

 

The smaller plot had a sparse stand of white clover. Throughout the summer months I kept the weeds and grass down with light mixtures of gly. Before planting I spread roughly 300 lbs per acre ( according to my math LOL) of triple twelve and lighly disced leaving most of the clover. A 2nd light pass with the disc after broadcasting the brassicas.

The larger plot is new. I mowed then sprayed with gly 2 weeks later. For the next several weeks I spot sprayed until everything was dead, at this time I broadcast pelletized lime. Before planting I broadcast additional lime and roughly 300lbs of triple 19. Before the rain last week I broadcast additional triple 19, rye and ladino. We need more rain and cooler temps. These are just play plots on my little 7 acres, so no soil test, maybe next year. I would love to have plots like this on the farm I hunt.

I'm not certain on the radish type. I bought them from a bulk dealer and it was listed as forage radish. GHR maybe? I asked when purchasing but the clerk didn't know.

Very nice. I hope to plant something similar next year. I have a one acre clover plot that I want to break up with some different things.

You said these are play plots. Are you going to be hunting those 7 acres? I would love to know how the deer respond to this mix, since we both hunt the same county.

 

Very nice. I hope to plant something similar next year. I have a one acre clover plot that I want to break up with some different things.

You said these are play plots. Are you going to be hunting those 7 acres? I would love to know how the deer respond to this mix, since we both hunt the same county.

I will be hunting at some point. Last year I hunted a few early november mornings and late season. I don't hunt it much, between my kids and neighboring kids, deer are bumped out too often. That's ok though, I would rather see them outside instead of parked infront of a video game and they won't be young forever.

A little over 5 of the seven is all wooded with poplar stands, dogwood trees, olives, soft maple, apples and small grassy openings. Within that 5ac I have 3 more small plots of clover that deer and turkey keep mowed. I tried brassica in those plots but they would hammer them before plants got any size.

Last year the smaller of those two plots pictured had rape, rye, few turnips and clover. The first "hard" frost was like a dinner bell. I could observe deer from my upstairs window entering the plots well before dark. I've planted small rape plots on the farm I hunt with very similar results.

 

What is the AG like in your area? We have a ton of corn, beans and orchards around here.

 

What is the AG like in your area? We have a ton of corn, beans and orchards around here.

 

Sounds the same. Losts of apples, corn, beans but very little hay. In my experience, these little green plots when well fertilized are like deer candy. Fertilizing ahead of the first hard frost is well documented here. That applies to clover as well. Plants sweeten with new growth and retain there green longer into the cold season. I can only imagine what it would be like to have a properly hunted 5 acre plot of this stuff.

 

Looks great. Do you know how long these radishs will last after it frosts. I added a new plot this year and I was going to plant them but I dragged around and did not get it done so I just planted rye and oats this year. Our growing season is about done up this way

 

This is a first for me using radish, so I really don't know. Maybe someone else could chime in.

 

Are the deer feeding in it?

 

Not much yet, I do see a leaf missing here and there. Also in places where seed was late to germinate and the plants are only 4" they are feeding on that. I broadcast a few handfulls of corn and soybeans before planting in hopes of pulling attention away from the brassicas, IMO, that has helped. I'm also trying to keep them away by leaving an article of dirty clothing near the plot each day. Lol

 

Looks great. Do you know how long these radishs will last after it frosts. I added a new plot this year and I was going to plant them but I dragged around and did not get it done so I just planted rye and oats this year. Our growing season is about done up this way

It depends on the deer. Some deer won't hardly touch them......ask Farmlegend about that.
Some deer can't leave them alone long enough to grow and in a perfect scenario you hope they don't hit them until after a hard frost.
Mine make it through most of November. By December they are gone bulbs and all. Some guys have the deer eat the greens and then dig the bulbs up in December or later.
Radishes in my experience are hit earlier than the turnips and rape.
I like to mix oats, winter rye and soy beans in my brassica plots. This gives them something to eat before the brassicas become choice food conditioning them to visit the plots. I also try to turn the plot into a clover plot in the spring keeping food in all my plots 365 days a year.

Sent from my LG-P769 using Ohub Campfire mobile app

 

After my brassicas leaves are gone and bare ground can be seen, I broadcast rye so it is green and growing in the spring. No reason they couldnt be planted together like he says. May be a big deterrent to them wiping out your brassica plot.

Your mix of brassica is spot on the right stuff.

 

This plot was planted to straight Purple Top's last year. This picture was taken in late February and as you can see they were still hammering the turnips.

The tracked up area is PTT, the untouched area to the right was winter wheat that never amounted to much, the pretty much untracked area beyond the PTT was also purple top but that section was cleared out by about mid January (more cover in that protected part, saw more pressure). That back corner looked like this picture when I was up there in mid/late January and they were just starting to venture further out to the part that is tracked up in the pictures.

When we were up there shed hunting in April there wasn't many turnips left and those that were left were half eaten.

 

Mightymouse, how long did the greens last?

 

This plot was planted to straight Purple Top's last year. This picture was taken in late February and as you can see they were still hammering the turnips.

The tracked up area is PTT, the untouched area to the right was winter wheat that never amounted to much, the pretty much untracked area beyond the PTT was also purple top but that section was cleared out by about mid January (more cover in that protected part, saw more pressure). That back corner looked like this picture when I was up there in mid/late January and they were just starting to venture further out to the part that is tracked up in the pictures.

When we were up there shed hunting in April there wasn't many turnips left and those that were left were half eaten.

A picture is worth a thousand words. I know what is on my 2014 late summer planting list.

 

Your plots are looking great! I'm surprised at how little they're hitting yours. I planted a mixture of pt turnips radishes and several hybrid rape varieties and they're already eating mine. Time to overseed the rye and ww I guess

 

I'm finally getting pictures of deer feeding in my turnips.

 

Be careful what you wish for! Mine get destroyed in about 2 weeks once they start hitting it! Hopefully this is not the case for you


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire

 

I'm finally getting pictures of deer feeding in my turnips.

Looking good! What date did you plant?

 

Looking good! What date did you plant?

Thanks. August 7.

 

Mightymouse, how long did the greens last?

This is what the area looked like on Sept 7th of last year. It was a bit over seeded but doing well and looking awesome

Shortly after that (late sept) the greens started to yellow out a bit due to lack of fertilizer and pretty much quit growing. Despite that the deer still hit the greens hard and despite their small size we still had some greens out there (and were still drawing deer into the plot to feed on greens) all the way up till gun season. Around that time they seemed to switch over to the turnips which is what you will find happens. Once you get a few good frosts something happens with the sugars in the plant and the turnips become as much of a draw as the greens. I'm really confident that this year with our better fertilizer work and better spacing we will get bigger plants and have greens through most of the year. Of course that will vary from place to place depending on deer density, food sources available, etc.

I know Farmlegend curses brassicas and I don't doubt his tales but for us they are like candy to our deer. They grow great, are low maintenance and the deer hammer them. We love em.


Here's some small bucks feeding and sparring on 17 September and the greens were still doing "good" at that point (starting to yellow a bit)

Here's a shot from 14 November and you can see what's left of the greens through the light snow (and the leaves). Not the greatest shot but I only have access to a few pictures on this computer

 

My Brassica plots are by FAR my favorite plot. The deer around me don't really take an interest until around Dec 1st. After that, you can watch the plot shrink aross the 150 ft wide field at a rate of about 10ft per day. They dont seem to like them until it gets really cold, and I don't hunt near that plot until then.