Mow canopied Radish?

[G3 Ranch]

In one of my plots we seeded too heavy with radish, It's completely canopied over 2+ acres. We also seeded rye, oats & clover with the radish. I'm thinking I should throw out some more rye & clover and mow. Advice appreciated.

 

[j-bird]

if you do this i would suggest only doing it in strips/sections. I am not sure how much growing season you have left and I would hate to see you remove all that forage. If you want the diversity - mow only a portion of the plot - to ensure you still have some of that forage for your deer. You're going to smash and bust some tubers as well with the equipment so keep that in mind as well. Just a suggestion on my part.

 

[G3 Ranch]

if you do this i would suggest only doing it in strips/sections.

Thanks j-bird,

The plot is close to 10 acres total, most of it looks to have a decent balance. 1 acre that's heavily canopied is where I wanted perennial clover, seeded in Durana + grains. I have two addl plots within 500 yds totaling 6 ac. I should have plenty forage, more concerned about getting a clover patch up and having ground cover after the radish kill off. I'm green at this plot business so I'm not really sure how/if radish overwinter.

 

[George]

The clover should be fine under the brassica, a radish patch is a good place to frost seed in March.

G

 

[j-bird]

Go for it. Not sure it will help or not, but it sounds like you got enough food to take the chance. That's all part of plotting - trying things and seeing if they work out or not. It's only a failure if you don't learn something from it! If it doesn't have the result you want - you can always re-seed come spring or fall or simply keep that acre as a place for you to experiment. Plots don't have to be perfect - the deer don't care and it's nice to have a small area where you can try different things.

The radish is an annual and they will die on their own in the spring - but they may try to produce seed first - nothing a mowing won't fix. If they are allowed to mature you might get some volunteer plants, but again, big deal - I would doubt they would survive the summer heat.

Like I said - plotting is all about learning and trying new and different things. We have all been there and it sounds like you have plenty of food so you're not putting your deer at risk. learn what works and doesn't work and why for you and your situation and you will be fine. It's never a failure if you learn from it. Many different ways to skin a cat - try them all and see which you like and go from there. Good luck.

 

[G3 Ranch]

The clover should be fine under the brassica, a radish patch is a good place to frost seed in March.

Thanks George, I'll may just let it go & frost seed some addl clover if needed

 

[G3 Ranch]

That's all part of plotting - trying things

Looks like I'll be trying a frost seeding if the clover is too thin...hopefully the radish will keep most weeds out.

Thanks