Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Login / Join

Brassicas in the ground!

Darron

Junior Member
273
0
Dayton, Ohio
I went down to the farm today and planted some strips of brassicas. I planted a mix of turnips, rape and radishes. The plot I planted is 3/4 acre clover field and I planted each end to brassicas (strips approx 9' wide by 40yds long). Due to the clover looking so good I decided not to till it all up and instead will come up in next month and plant a couple more strips to a grain mix leaving some clover still standing in the plot. If everything goes as planned the plot should look like this in 9-12' strips:

Brassicas Clover grain mix Clover grain mix Brassicas

This way deer have turnips, rape, radishes, rye, oats, field peas and clover all in the same plot. Plus, having smaller sections of brassicas will allow the deer to eat them out so I can frost seed into them this winter (uneaten brassicas can prevent seeds from germinating the next spring which can make frost seeding difficult).

Some of you may ask, "Why would you till under portions of a perfectly good clover stand? First, when clover is tilled under, it releases nitrogen back in the soil, which brassicas love! So in essence it's like getting free fertilizer. Secondly, tilling under clover builds organic matter to your soil. Next, IMO, I like to give deer a variety. Even in smaller 1/2-1 acre food plots one can strip plot giving the deer a nice variety of forages to eat. When you go out to eat, do you want a menu with one item on it or several choices? Sure I have other food plots in just one forage, like clover, but my larger food plots (if you want to call 3/4 acre large) I try and strip plot them in 9-12' wide strips.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
Good stuff, Darron... but where's the pictures?!?!?! lol I have the same plan going on in my head right now. I'm hoping to go down and plant either this weekend or the weekend after, with the same brassica/rape/radish blend. I checked my clover plot this past weekend and it was looking really nice... So instead of just planting strips of brassicas, I'm going to expand the plot a bit bigger... Go from the current 3/4 acre to a full acre or more. That way I can provide the buffet and at the same time take full advantage of the extra space I have.

Did you order your seed online or get it from a local co-op? I figure the ptt's and rape will be easy enough to find, but I don't know about the groundhog radishes. I'm guessing that may have to be a special order. Also, did you fertilize with urea, or just rely on the tilled-under clover?
 

Darron

Junior Member
273
0
Dayton, Ohio
Good stuff, Darron... but where's the pictures?!?!?! lol I have the same plan going on in my head right now. I'm hoping to go down and plant either this weekend or the weekend after, with the same brassica/rape/radish blend. I checked my clover plot this past weekend and it was looking really nice... So instead of just planting strips of brassicas, I'm going to expand the plot a bit bigger... Go from the current 3/4 acre to a full acre or more. That way I can provide the buffet and at the same time take full advantage of the extra space I have.

Did you order your seed online or get it from a local co-op? I figure the ptt's and rape will be easy enough to find, but I don't know about the groundhog radishes. I'm guessing that may have to be a special order. Also, did you fertilize with urea, or just rely on the tilled-under clover?

The radishes can be ordered on-line from welters seed. They are $2.65 a pound. They usually hit the radishes first, then the rape and then the turnips. Keep in mind that 2.65 a pound turns into about $4-5 pound after shipping. I noticed evolved harvest came out with a rape/radish mix. Although pricey, if you can find it on sale it looks to be a good mix.
 

Darron

Junior Member
273
0
Dayton, Ohio
Sweet man, good luck... Id like to see some pics here in a few weeks of it growing up! Is this a killing plot or inventory plot?

This plot is more of a destination plot. I do not hunt over this food plot. Due to the lack of cover on the one side the deer usually hit this plot late. Plus, a small portion of it can be seen from a local county road (Hopefully my recently planted cuttings will block that out here soon). So the deer tend to spend more time in this plot during dark hours. Which is fine, because when hunting on that side of the property I set up in the timber by nearby trails and oak flats catching them as they stage. I also have a 1/8th acre white clover pot that sits adjacent to this plot about 100 yards away. It has plenty of cover around it and I sometimes hunt it and catch deer staging there before dark.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
The radishes can be ordered on-line from welters seed. They are $2.65 a pound. They usually hit the radishes first, then the rape and then the turnips. Keep in mind that 2.65 a pound turns into about $4-5 pound after shipping. I noticed evolved harvest came out with a rape/radish mix. Although pricey, if you can find it on sale it looks to be a good mix.

How long did it take Welters to ship that seed to you?
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I picked up the Evolved radish mix this afternoon. I had a coupon to use at Dunhams, so I figured it was worth the try after hearing your pitch on using radishes. I have a great location for them, so it will be fun to see what happens!
 

Darron

Junior Member
273
0
Dayton, Ohio
I picked up the Evolved radish mix this afternoon. I had a coupon to use at Dunhams, so I figured it was worth the try after hearing your pitch on using radishes. I have a great location for them, so it will be fun to see what happens!

I think you will like the radishes. They don't canopy as much as rape and turnips and the deer hit them early, way before any frost. Due to not having the canopy issues you can plant more of them per acre than reg brassicas like rape and turnips. Some people even plant them alone.
 

cotty16

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
Here's mine... Just put it in this evening. My younger son, Klay, is pushing the spreader. I had to do strips per landowner request. He likes the cover of the weeds for rabbits and other critters. Some of last years rape came back, so it was cool.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1312333806.648947.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1312333836.150655.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1312333854.269509.jpg