Brassicas

[dbltree]

Brassica Disease

I haven't had too much problem with brassica diseases or pests other then in drowning situations in water logged soils but it can be a real problem which is why it's important to rotate crops. A friend sent me pictures of his diseases brassicas that at one point appeared healthy and thriving, I can't see where he has done anything wrong and I'm not sure exactly what the problem is but I suspect some heavy rains earlier may have spawned a disease problem.

At one point they looked fantastic

but then went down hill in a hurry

he said they smell rotten which tells me they are dying

no question pests/bugs are taking their toll on the stressed plants but they are not the cause of the dying plants

Poorly drained soils are more apt to have problems if there are periods in which the soil remains waterlogged for several weeks. Perhaps this was the case here but we really don't know for certain...but the owner is going to till them under and re-plant to winter rye.

Here's a good link to more on brassica diseases and pests that may provide clues for those wondering about their own brassicas

Diseases of Canola

Canola Diseases

Brassica diseases

While crop rotation is not the problem here, the lack of it is most often the problem when disease and pests strike our crops, so it's a simple matter to correct by dividing your plots into strips or blocks and rotating multiple crops within that plot every year. Not on;y does doing so help avoid disease problems but also helps insure that if one crop fails, another is there to pick up the slack and continue to attract deer...year around...

 

[BBD Big Buck Down]

Our purple turnips were comin in good and really starting to grow. They are a little under knee high and just starting to get an actual little turnip to grow but this week i checked them and the deer absolutely destroyed the field and mowed it down to stems and a few leaves still. Will the plants even produce a turnip with most of the leaf gone and the way the temperatures are starting drop?

 

[dbltree]

Our purple turnips were comin in good and really starting to grow. They are a little under knee high and just starting to get an actual little turnip to grow but this week i checked them and the deer absolutely destroyed the field and mowed it down to stems and a few leaves still. Will the plants even produce a turnip with most of the leaf gone and the way the temperatures are starting drop?

Probably not but keep us posted on how yours end up doing as the fall progresses...

 

[Sligh1]

Our purple turnips were comin in good and really starting to grow. They are a little under knee high and just starting to get an actual little turnip to grow but this week i checked them and the deer absolutely destroyed the field and mowed it down to stems and a few leaves still. Will the plants even produce a turnip with most of the leaf gone and the way the temperatures are starting drop?

That sucks! For others info, can you say how many acres you planted, how did you fertilize and seed population, etc? Was it simply a case of not enough food around or too small a plot? Sucks but it's a learning experience and you can go add some winter rye and possibly radishes to it NOW. Good luck

 

[BBD Big Buck Down]

That sucks! For others info, can you say how many acres you planted, how did you fertilize and seed population, etc? Was it simply a case of not enough food around or too small a plot? Sucks but it's a learning experience and you can go add some winter rye and possibly radishes to it NOW. Good luck

We planted just over an acre of Turnips, Acre of oats, and another acre of clover all seperate but touching each other. We thought we'd try the turnips to see if deer liked them right away or if it was gonna take them awhile to get use too but clearly we needed more! They mowed down the turnips and oats but havent touched the clover much. Before planting we spread lime about a month before and then put fertilizer right before we planted. Everything got off to a great start and was looking good. Just last week i checked the plot and turnips had barely been touched then this week they were just gone! Will def be planting more next year! :way:

 

[BBD Big Buck Down]

Sucks but it's a learning experience and you can go add some winter rye and possibly radishes to it NOW. Good luck

I hadnt even thought about putting in some winter rye. Could i just broadcast it over the turnips before a rain and have that work? or will i have to till it up again

 

[dbltree]

I hadnt even thought about putting in some winter rye. Could i just broadcast it over the turnips before a rain and have that work? or will i have to till it up again

You can just overseed the rye ahead of a good rain but it's getting a little late so tilling and planting would insure faster germination and growth.

I bet they are eating your clover...without a cam right on the clover it's really difficult to tell because clover grows very fast and will often show little evidence of grazing....

 

[Boz]

Our purple turnips were comin in good and really starting to grow. They are a little under knee high and just starting to get an actual little turnip to grow but this week i checked them and the deer absolutely destroyed the field and mowed it down to stems and a few leaves still. Will the plants even produce a turnip with most of the leaf gone and the way the temperatures are starting drop?

That sucks, I've been there and had a food plot that was looking great (corn/beans) get completely wiped out by the neighbors cattle that found a hole in the fence. Learned a valuable lesson the hard way about checking and fixing the neighbors fence before putting in food plots.

 

[dbltree]

The following pics were shared on Outreach Outdoors and I am re-posting with permission.

Great forage radish growth!

Note the deer are hammering the radishes!

Obviously the deer are pleased!

If you got sufficient rainfall to get your brassicas up and growing this summer, please share the results this fall. Get an exclusion cage up and a trail cam if you can....you never know what might be enjoying the fruits of your labors under cover of...darkness....

 

[scottonbuck]

I need to get out and take some good pics of my Brassicas they are doing awesome to say the least. We hunted last night out of a blind on the plot and they were knee high, waist high if your a midget. The deer have been hammering them also, we waited for the perfect wind and went in and had success. My 7 year old son killed his first deer a big doe off the Brassicas. To say I was pleased would be an understatement. It made all the hard work seem worth it just to see the deer pour into the field and to have my son harvest one was a bonus. I will get pics soon.

 

[Butch973]

This was my first year planting turnips. I got them in the ground around the first week of august here in west centratl iowa. Planted and fertilized as discussed on here and also gave them a shot of nitrogen right before a big rain a few weeks back. Everything looks great and the plants are over knee high in spots but my problem is that the actual turnip and radish growth is not much at all. Am I missing something?

 

[Sligh1]

This was my first year planting turnips. I got them in the ground around the first week of august here in west centratl iowa. Planted and fertilized as discussed on here and also gave them a shot of nitrogen right before a big rain a few weeks back. Everything looks great and the plants are over knee high in spots but my problem is that the actual turnip and radish growth is not much at all. Am I missing something?

PERFECT! Can't think of anything?!?! If they look great and bulbs are coming along nice and they are weed free- you're good to go!
*Oh, I just realized you said your bulb development was not great.... when you check it last? how big we talking??? pencil, golf ball, baseball, etc?? I would not be that concerned BUT give a few more specific details.

 

[Butch973]

Pulled a few tonight and the best I saw was the radishes and they were maybe 4 inches. Looked like small carrots. Is this normal to have the tops grow out first and then the bulbs develop? I just can't figure out why the tops are so big and there isn't much underneath. Luckily there isn't a frost predicted in the near future so hopefully all the growth will go towards the bulbs in the next few weeks. I never did get a lime test so I'm thinking that must be the problem but like I said the tops are doing great so thats what has me baffled.

 

[Sligh1]

Hmmm, maybe Dbltree has some more thoughts BUT.... That is a little odd if those tops are so big. BUT... At this point there isn't a lot you can do... You can add some more N before a rain. We'll hopefully get some more growing time going on and I'll bet in 3-4 more weeks those bulbs develop a lot more.

 

[dbltree]

Pulled a few tonight and the best I saw was the radishes and they were maybe 4 inches. Looked like small carrots. Is this normal to have the tops grow out first and then the bulbs develop? I just can't figure out why the tops are so big and there isn't much underneath. Luckily there isn't a frost predicted in the near future so hopefully all the growth will go towards the bulbs in the next few weeks. I never did get a lime test so I'm thinking that must be the problem but like I said the tops are doing great so that's what has me baffled.

I think there is in fact nothing wrong at all but rather the time is not right because you planted several weeks later. Corn grows tall first and then develops ears and it is much the same with brassicas, with root growth coming after the plant has reached near maximum height.

Check yours in the next few weeks and take some pictures if you can...



September 25th, 2011

Update on brassicas planted in mid July and have received only one significant rainfall on August 30th...

Healthy soils high in organic matter and P/K, PH levels corrected and 200#'s of urea make for a healthy robust crop even under very difficult conditions!

The Groundhog forge radish is still getting hammered hard

and now they are hitting the roots as well

Growth is reasonable considering the drought and heavy grazing

The Purple Top turnips are also getting huge!

This is the main source of winter feed and is a huge draw during our December thru January seasons

All in all they look healthier this year under dry conditions then last year under extremely wet conditions

Combined with soybeans overseed with winter rye and areas of white clover within the same centralized feeding area, this farm has outstanding food sources despite the wet spring and dry summer and I am certain the landowner will have a successful season....

 

[Butch973]

Thanks guys I really appreciate your help. I will definately keep an eye on them. Hopefully I'll have a tractor next year so I can get them planted on time.

 

[risto2351]

To say it was a tough year planting food plots is an understatement.
I planted the lower half of this plot the 23rd of July. With no rain for four weeks. I planted turnips, GFR, and DER.
I thought it was never going to grow.
Well it did finally grow. A few bare spots but it will do.

In the bare spots I seeded with rye and clover. Some of the rye I
seeded last year beat me to it.

Nice looking turnips.

With so much to eat it will be interesting to see when they start eating them.

 

[dbltree]

No lack of food at your farm Tony! :way:

 

[dbltree]

October 7th, 2011

All of our brassica plantings here in SE Iowa were planted using the same seed, fertilizer and lime (some pel lime some ag lime) but of course not all the soils were identical and while primarily heavy clay type soils, organic matter varied widely.

The seed and fertilizer used was comprised of the following....

3#'s Purple Top Turnips
2#'s Dwarf Essex Rape
5#'s Groundhog Forage Radish

400#'s 6-28-28 (to provide P&K)
200#'s 46-0-0 urea (to provide 92#'s of nitrogen)
400#'s of pellet lime (except on fields that had 3 ton of ag lime applied earlier)

Fields were strip planted so that roughly 1/2 was in brassicas and 1/2 in the winter rye/oats/forage peas/forage radish and red clover combination to allow the brassicas and rye to be rotated yearly. Most plots are adjacent to ag crops and either small areas of white clover or alfalfa fields and all fields endured some level of drought this summer and fall

This is what a typical plot looks like on most of the farms I work with...rye, brassicas and ag crops either within the plot or right across the fence. This type of situation allows us to feed deer year around as well as rotate crops and build up soil quality.

Despite little rain most of the brassicas that germinated have done very well

The exception being where soils were very light and therefore exceptionally dry which then lead to stunted, poor performing brassicas

With small roots although obviously still being grazed!

In one area I purposely added more seed to simulate overseeding (a common problem for plotters) and we can see how this has a negative effect on growth of both roots and foliage

This is in low rich soil or these plants probably would have succumbed to the drought but note the small size of the crowded plants!

In ALL cases...regardless of the farm or plots on the farm....deer are grazing the brassica tops

and even starting to pull up a few turnip and radish roots

Because deer focused on the GHFR first the turnip roots had time to develop before seer started grazing the tops

Now the rye combination is coming on strong and deer are starting to focus on the succulent cereals and peas, giving the brassicas a break so that they will be there during the late season. I had the pleasure of joining my friend Rich Baugh for supper last week and we spent the time before dinner peering through his spotting scope to watch deer coming into a food plot some 500-600 yards away. The deer walked from the timber into the brassicas and literally ripped entire brassica plants from the ground and stood contentedly munching on the tops but eventually worked their way to the rye combination and grazed there as well.

Without the rye in the same plot, deer would soon destroy the brassicas which would then leave Rich disappointed this fall and it wouldn't have taken long since germination was poor thanks to the severe drought this summer. Don't count on any one food source, plant multiple crops in each field to allow for rotation and soil building not to mention "crop insurance" in case one fails....

 

[dbltree]

A friend posted this video of deer happily munching on his brassicas on Outreach Outdoors....



Updated pic on fodder beets...grown in pretty compacted soils so not bad considering

Tops look outstanding!

So far I have not had any reports of deer waiting until the brassicas freeze before feeding on them this year but no doubt some landowners who planted them for the first time may find deer hesitate if they have plenty of other food sources. Once they figure it out however....you may not have enough ground to keep them fed the next year....