Brassica growth

[Crimson850]

Due to poor soil quality my brassicas have never grown that well, but are doing better this year than they ever have. My concern is the under ground growt of the actual fruit seems to be very little. I am only seeing tiny radishes and turnips. I applied 150lbs per acre of urea a couple weeks ago before a rain and I'm wondering if I shouldn't add more before it rains again? The deer are eating the leafy greens, but I was hoping to have some tubers by now! Any thoughts?

 

[DocHolladay]

A planting date would help us give a better answer and what type of brassicas you planted. There are some varieties that only produce leaves or very small tubers.

 

[dogghr]

^^^^ yep. But small tubers are typically too heavy seeding. Its is really hard to stay light with that small seed. Dry weather can contribute. Deer still like the small tubers, no worries, just dont bust up the ground as well as the larger. And it takes 60-90 days for good growth.

 

[j-bird]

Both posts above are good advice. Knowing when you planted (more specifically when you saw germination) and what varieties you planted will tell us a lot. Like was mentioned most folks shoot for 60 to 90 days of actual growth before you first hard frost for best results. That gives the plant ample time to grow a decent tuber if it is a variety that does that. Some variety - Appin turnips for example - are to provide the green forage with very little tuber production. Other growing conditions can also impact.....dry, heavy seeding, lack of sun, deer pressure, soil conditions and fertility (pH and mineral levels) can all have a big impact. If your deer are eating the greens they will eat whatever grows....if there is any tuber at all and they need/want the food they will dig and pull the tubers from the ground when the time comes. If you are concerned about the food being provided as not being enough, broadcast 50 to 100 lbs of rye to the plot and let the rain drive it into the ground. That will help add some additional tonnage of forage produced in the plot as well.

 

[X-farmerdan]

Due to poor soil quality my brassicas have never grown that well, but are doing better this year than they ever have. My concern is the under ground growt of the actual fruit seems to be very little. I am only seeing tiny radishes and turnips. I applied 150lbs per acre of urea a couple weeks ago before a rain and I'm wondering if I shouldn't add more before it rains again? The deer are eating the leafy greens, but I was hoping to have some tubers by now! Any thoughts?

No! Don't apply more (nitrogen) fertilizer. The effect would be to stall root production even further. Nitrogen will push growth of the green parts of the plant at the expense of root expansion. It's not a straight line, though. On a graph, the relationship between nitrogen applied and turnip and/or radish production would look like an upside down U. More is better up to a point and then things start to go downhill.

All of the other factors mentioned above might be causing an impact, but extra nitrogen now won't help.

 

[Crimson850]

I planted the big buck brassica mix from Welter seed the 2nd week of August, but everything is small. I haven't seen a tuber 6in long.

 

[MarkDarvin]

I'd get a complete soil test before you do anything else. By now you should have baseball bat radishes. If your pH is off, you could pour on all the N you want, but if the pH ties it up, it won't go anywhere.

 

[Crimson850]

I'd get a complete soil test before you do anything else. By now you should have baseball bat radishes. If your pH is off, you could pour on all the N you want, but if the pH ties it up, it won't go anywhere.

You are right. Need to get my PH right before I throw away any more money. I have lots of green tops but no good tubers. Can't believe it!