Over seeding Rye Into Turnips

[wsucoug]

Brassicas are my number 1 fall crop. I plant them around July 10th, and they are getting hammered by September. Our first frost usually comes around the middle of Sept., and the deer are pretty much just eating bulbs by November. The tonnage they put on are everything to my hunting seasons.

My issue is, that come spring, I have bare ground, so I plant oats around May 1, which is about the earliest I can get them in. This creates an issue of WEEDS. Compared to late summer planted rye and MRC, the oats just have a ton of weeds come late spring. So not only do i have to plant in the spring but i also have to spray, sometimes 2x. The hunting ground is 4 hrs away so this kinds sucks.

So, can Rye be successfully over seeded into turnips? MRC? This would save both planting and spraying in the spring as rye really puts the weeds at bay. Has anyone done this? Do the turnips just shade them out? I do not need rye or MRC for fall tonnage, just spring soil maintenance. Would you plant at the same time, or over seed?

Just looking for experiences, as I think I am going to try it this year and it would be awesome if I could get it to work.

 

[Brinktown]

I think your plan to overseed will work okay. I would overseed in September.

We use the LC rotation. We mow rye then till it under to plant the brassica half in early August. It ends up being mostly a solid stand of brassicas with some volunteer rye as far as you can tell in the fall. But when early summer rolls around, the spent brassicas look like a solid stand of rye. My guess is the brassicas hold it at bay but it germinates and takes off in the spring.


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[dogghr]

I always hated the bare dirt left by brassica late winter. I began to overseed WR and RC late oct. Worked great w winter feed along w the bulbs and early greenup w food thru next fall for rotation.
But... now I jst include a mix in the Aug planting of brassica grain and clover. Less work. Great plot. Deer haven’t complained. Good luck.


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[MarkDarvin]

I like to stagger those plantings. Otherwise, the rye can get ahead of the brassicas and hold them back. Give your brassicas a three week head start, then broadcast rye into them. Should be plenty of room for the rye to get going and get sunlight, and the turnips to have a taproot far beyond the rye getting started.

 

[j-bird]

Planting a late fall cereal grain that will survive the winter to green up as soon as possible in the spring is a great way to help cover some of the lean times. Rye will grow the longest in cold temps and will be the soonest to "wake up" in the spring as well. I agree with Mr. Darvin in that planting your brassica first and giving it a head start is a good idea if you can. Broadcast the rye later in the fall. Rye will grow on a damp sidewalk, so you should be fine if your timing allows for it.

 

[dogghr]

I respectively disagree. 4 wks after planting early Aug...
....

Early Oct ...

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[wsucoug]

This is what mine look like in october. Picture is from the 7th last year. It would be a toss up whether I can actually get rye to germinate and "get going" in october as temperatures are often freezing at night. I also feel like the canopy would prevent germination any later than 3 weeks. I like the idea of planting all at once. Seeding will be going into last fall's MRC and Rye that will be sprayed and rolled.

 

[dogghr]

WR will germinate into low 30s so you might be ok. I’ve actually overseeded early Nov w good results and my freeze date is early Oct.
as Mark and Jbird said you might do better overseeding in Sept and I agree. But I do t like working the plots once hunting season starts using up my time so I just throw it all down at one time anymore. Prob not optimum but works.



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[MarkDarvin]

WR will germinate into low 30s so you might be ok. I’ve actually overseeded early Nov w good results and my freeze date is early Oct.
as Mark and Jbird said you might do better overseeding in Sept and I agree. But I do t like working the plots once hunting season starts using up my time so I just throw it all down at one time anymore. Prob not optimum but works.



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Probably all boils down to seeding rates. If you crank your rye rate down low enough, I supposed they'd play well together. I've had choke out issues, but I also pushed 1 bu/ac rye rates, and a full rate of brassicas.

 

[dogghr]

Yep I go half that rate anymore even in my rye/clover rotation plots. I find much easier to do T&M the following year when rye is not such a thicket, and it allows clovers to grow much better beneath it without any mowing or termination thru following summer. I agree, full dosage would probably overcome the brassica perhaps. Maybe my deer are browsing the new grain allowing the brassica to do their thing without affect. Certainly we all do it differently. No right or wrong way.

 

[wsucoug]

So do you think 20 to 30 lbs of rye is the way to go? Do you error on the light side of the heavy side of things? Also do you add any MRC with this mix?

Like i said this is gonna be going into the LC MRC/Oats next late summer so i need there to be enough tonnage for the throw and roll method. Also this plot is irrigated so moisture is always right on time!