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Brassicas

I normally plant my Brassicas July 15th ,never had a problem anyone ever plant earlier ? Not getting any rain Id rather have the seed in the ground waiting for the rain then miss it .. Not sure if they mature maybe to early if Id have a problem ,Thoughts ?
 
Seems way to early jbohn?
I'm not far from Canada and July 25th is my target date.
I once planted them into super dry soil on that date and didn't get a rain untill 3rd week of August.
They germinated and came up increible!. Had a first late frost that year though, that helped.
 
Jbohn, I personally think that is too early given how far south you are. I would shoot for aug 1. I do think you will have a problem with them getting too mature and rotting before hard frost when they are attractive
 
I was just able to terminate/cultipack my winter rye from last year. It was over plantedand and thick. Now that it is on the ground it is VERY thick like 2 itches. When i go to seed it in a month with Brassica i think it will be a problem for the seed to get to the soil. Any suggestions?
 

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Jbohn, I personally think that is too early given how far south you are. I would shoot for aug 1. I do think you will have a problem with them getting too mature and rotting before hard frost when they are attractive
Agreed. Or even wait till around August 7th or so. I have planted the last week of July and it gets mature too early and the bulbs rot early.
 
Agreed. Or even wait till around August 7th or so. I have planted the last week of July and it gets mature too early and the bulbs rot early.

Interesting. I planted Aug 6th (Central MO) and had a great stand thru the winter. Bulbs eaten thru March. I have something that weekend this year so I was considering July 28th.

Has me second guessing..
 
Interesting. I planted Aug 6th (Central MO) and had a great stand thru the winter. Bulbs eaten thru March. I have something that weekend this year so I was considering July 28th.

Has me second guessing..
Just fine.
Depends on whether u have good moisture & how big u want em. I’m fine with late July. I’m ok with mid July if it means catching better weather.

I still weigh: soil moisture & timing vs beating droughts in any form….. want to have em growing in moist conditions AND also want to have high quality FERTILE soil with minimal disturbance to release moisture.

No year has ever been Same for me with brassicas…. Some years they sit in soil for few weeks before germination. I simply want successful healthy plants when weather is favorable & if they come a bit early or bit late- I don’t really care. In my unique situation of “preference” - I probably would want more tonnage with lots of top leaf growth just before the point where they get “too woody” if that makes sense.
I’m planting late July. But that fits my goals just fine. Moisture in soil is finally good by me after dry spring too.
 
Just fine.
Depends on whether u have good moisture & how big u want em. I’m fine with late July. I’m ok with mid July if it means catching better weather.

I still weigh: soil moisture & timing vs beating droughts in any form….. want to have em growing in moist conditions AND also want to have high quality FERTILE soil with minimal disturbance to release moisture.

No year has ever been Same for me with brassicas…. Some years they sit in soil for few weeks before germination. I simply want successful healthy plants when weather is favorable & if they come a bit early or bit late- I don’t really care. In my unique situation of “preference” - I probably would want more tonnage with lots of top leaf growth just before the point where they get “too woody” if that makes sense.
I’m planting late July. But that fits my goals just fine. Moisture in soil is finally good by me after dry spring too.

Good feedback, thanks Skip. I'm usually in the party of plant to date, and when the rain comes it comes..
 
Off top of my head,… 4 out of 5 years were “very tough” seeding brassicas. Lots of failures across state. Some folks failed all of the 4 tough years. I lost ONE year where I through in towel. Other 3…. Good soils, years of building OM, great fertility & not tearing up my soil allowed them to flourish while others failed. I learned those lessons long ago and even with a drought I feel like a guy can still have fantastic brassicas if spend time to get all that right & also start now on continuing to build your soil.
I’ve got some new areas I’ll be seeding. Got my soil tests & since no burn Down clovers - I’ll run a year of conventional: treated N: roughly it’s like: 60-30-40, 15 lbs sulfur, 100 lbs pelletized lime & then a small amount of zinc & Boron. One pass after they mix - burn it up with herbicides and I’ll either use minimal till drill or spread & cultimulch. I do have thatch under control so seed bed should be nice. Good luck to u all!
 
I am going to disagree a little with some of the previous comments. I use to always plant the last week of July. Typically had great success with it but what happened more time than what I would have liked is they bulb got WAY too large and woody and the deer quit touching them. I feel like the Aug 5-15th time frame is more ideal. I also have been waiting until the chance of rain are high enough to take the risk. So I will prep the plots and then wait for the weather and plant my seed.

Tons of ways to skin this cat.
 
I am going to disagree a little with some of the previous comments. I use to always plant the last week of July. Typically had great success with it but what happened more time than what I would have liked is they bulb got WAY too large and woody and the deer quit touching them. I feel like the Aug 5-15th time frame is more ideal. I also have been waiting until the chance of rain are high enough to take the risk. So I will prep the plots and then wait for the weather and plant my seed.

Tons of ways to skin this cat.
I hear this a lot. I don’t disagree one bit. & id absolutely do this if u like the results or feel the later planted has advantages…. Lot of guys feel smaller bulbs are better & more desirable.
Small part of my earlier planting is due to my work load & feelings that larger bulbs work great in my cases & I maybe weigh out tonnage vs taste a bit.
So many cases with brassicas “I planted them at _____ time. But they sat in dirt for ____ amount of time”. Heck, I’ve planted them “august 1” & didn’t germ until “sept 1” in a made up example. Planting into really good soil with good OM & some level of mulch can really help with germination & success as well. Like previously discussed- some merit to adding that seed coating that helps promote moisture around seed. I’ve added some powder micro-nutrient to seed - mixing with seed or done in a fertilizer cart & I do think that helps as well…. Giving seed a boost of nutrients right after germinating
 
Question, and I’m sure it’s in here on one of the 96 pages but, we frost seeded clover behind beans last year and the clover just never really got established. We did this to terminate and then put brassicas in for our fall plot. Well, like stated above clover never took for weed suppression and we had a nice stand of water hemp so we smoked it with 24-D and Gly.

Here’s the question. What’s the residual on 24-D for brassicas that I can be safe with planting? I’ve been asking and searching but can’t seem to find anything that’s consistent. Is it 2 weeks? 30 days?
 
In my experience seeding yard grass at work, I’d give it a couple weeks. That’s purely anecdotal evidence so take it for what it’s worth. I’ve also seeded brassicas a week after spraying and done fine, but also had plenty of rain. Sorry I don’t have a better answer.
 
I was just able to terminate/cultipack my winter rye from last year. It was over plantedand and thick. Now that it is on the ground it is VERY thick like 2 itches. When i go to seed it in a month with Brassica i think it will be a problem for the seed to get to the soil. Any suggestions?
Maybe disc it around the edge, and light it on fire.
 
Have a plot that is going into Brassicas in 2 - 3 weeks can you still spray 24-D now or is it to late?
It all depends on the type of 24D and the rate. I have planted brassicas 5 days after 24d application and they were just fine. Maybe tone back on the 24D and go a bit heavier on the gly and ams
 
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