Radishes vs Turnips...

[Triple C]

Radish vs turnip...
Down here, deer devour our radish tops before they go for the turnip greens. Here's a close up of a radish and turnip growing next to each other. Took this pic yesterday morning. Notice the top of the radish has been browsed almost to the bulb. The turnip greens next to it have hardly been touched. The deer will eventually eat the turnip greens but the radishes are preferred. This has been my observation from the years we've been doing this. If I had only one to choose, it would be radish. What's your experience?

 

[Chainsaw]

Good subject C. This subject really shows a difference in geography. While I would not want to plant just one, if I were to it would be turnips definitely. As where you are the deer here do not like the turnip tops as early as they like the radish tops. However the turnips will be here for them for winter feed and that is more important here than fall feed. The radishes of course have the advantage of going deeper in the soil and draining and aerating it and it keeps the deer coming to the plot before they want the turnips. So for us, like clover,rye and BFO;It's a no brainer, Always plant all of it including turnips and radishes.

 

[Bullwinkle]

My experience is the same

The problem is radishes start to rot by me in Oct. After first frost they are a useless stinky mess

I plant radishes for the soil only. Turnips are much more productive throughout the season

 

[DrDirtNap]

TC, I have the exact same experience over here in N MS. My deer are hammering the radishes but so far haven’t touched turnips. I also have some other brassicas planted but nothing has been as attractive as the radishes.


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[JDunham]

Good subject C. This subject really shows a difference in geography. While I would not want to plant just one, if I were to it would be turnips definitely. As where you are the deer here do not like the turnip tops as early as they like the radish tops. However the turnips will be here for them for winter feed and that is more important here than fall feed. The radishes of course have the advantage of going deeper in the soil and draining and aerating it and it keeps the deer coming to the plot before they want the turnips. So for us, like clover,rye and BFO;It's a no brainer, Always plant all of it including turnips and radishes.

Yep, they all have a place in the food plot program here. For our area I would plant turnips if forced to choose between the two.

 

[swat1018]

I plant the LC brassica mix. It is all consumed by spring, and looks like someone run a disc through the plot from all the diging for turnip tubers. They are the last thing to go, but they always go.

 

[Triple C]

Interesting observations between the northern plotters vs the southern plotters. 1st frost down here is just before Thanksgiving this year and maybe 5 to 7 frosts before Christmas. Radishes just keep putting on top growth down here until we get regular freezing temps at night starting about now. Turnips are getting some browse and that will pick up in the coming weeks.

I'm growing some massive size turnips and radishes this year in the spot where a huge pile of chicken manure sat for about 4 months in early 2015. This one was almost the size of a soccer ball when I pulled it from the ground. Radishes are huge as well. Getting some turnips being foraged on now.

 

[dogghr]

My deer have always loved brassica from the first time I planted them. I have poor results with forage radish as I've said before because my deer eat them like candy before a tubor hardly forms. Long gone by hunting season. Much better luck of lasting thru winter with my PTT and DER even tho I still put in the radish. I also include cabage and lettuce since it is cheap. I also overseed with RC and WR in early Nov as brassica are browsed. Leaves no bare dirt late winter.

 

[Native Hunter]

TC, my deer much prefer radishes over turnips, but neither is really a huge draw. They seem to eat the cereal grains much better than any brassicas.

 

[Gravel Road]

Planted radish and turnip for the 3rd year and they still don't get touched. I may still plant radish for the soil benefits, but that's it. Wish they ate it because so far it has been easy to plant and get good growth.

 

[Baker]

Radishes may be the most preferred cultivar I have ever planted. While I plant radishes, turnips and rape every year in every clover plot it is the radishes that are attractive as soon as they get going till seeding in spring. Even then they eat the bolts. The tubers themselves not so much. After several years I still only see light grazing on the turnips. Doesn't stop me from planting them though as I like them for the worms.

 

[Kwood]

Baker, can you give a breakdown of what your clover plots look like (what else goes in them and when)?


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[Baker]

Baker, can you give a breakdown of what your clover plots look like (what else goes in them and when)?


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I have several different variants of clover plots. Some I view as perennial feeding plots and others as hunting plots with clover. For the perennial clover plots I use Durana and chicory. Sometimes I mix a little red clover in. In the fall I drill 50 lbs wheat and a couple pounds of radishes and 1 lb turnips into them which I mow sometimes in the spring. If moisture is right these last all year.

For hunting plots I go more with a crimson /arrowleaf clover mix. Planted in the fall I add wheat and the same radish turnip mixture as above as well but let the whole thing go without mowing in the spring. It plays out sometimes in mid summer and I leave it fallow till time to replant in fall when I mow it tight and replant the wheat. The arrow leaf and crimson reseed themselves .I usually throw a little chicory in these plots as well as chicory is so compatible with clover.

I'm in the deep south so the clover plots do very well and frequently last all year.

 

[Drycreek]

My experience with turnips has been pretty dismal. I've planted them three years in a row and have yet to see a turnip molested by a deer. I even dug some up and the hogs wouldn't eat them. (which is probably a blessing) Daikon radish, on the other hand, are readily eaten by "my" deer, so I plant them still, even though they get eaten up pretty quickly. They didn't do too sporty this year though from lack of moisture.

 

[TreeDaddy]

I stopped planting turnips several years ago although they were easy to grow

Deer never touched them My family and friends,however, loved them!!

bill

 

[DocHolladay]

I got my first good stand of radish and turnip this year at a local property, but I got it in the ground a little too late to get large bulbs or tubers. I am seeing some small bulbs and tubers growing so the soil is getting some benefit, but the deer have not shown any preference to which tops they eat first. At our lease, the deer have eaten everything down to the ground and left nothing standing but short clover. I think we would have had a great plot of turnips and radishes, but they started eating them as soon as they reached about 5-6" tall and didn't stop until they were gone. I will plant again at both locations.

 

[j-bird]

I once did as much of a side-by-side as I could.....even though I see neither turnips or radish getting significant use.....either of the tops or the bulbs. But in my side-by-side I did see some preference to the radish over the turnips. I still plant both as an insurance food source and soil builder for my plots. My food situation tends to be a little different in that I am surrounded by ag so the deer have lots of corn and soybeans at their disposal and I plant and leave these crops standing in plots as well. Like I said.....brassica are nothing more than an insurance policy....typically used with rye or winter wheat as well. I tend to even have some brassica survive the winter here and bolt and produce seed if allowed.

 

[Mahindra3016]

I see usage about spot on to triple c's photo, eating radish greens and ignoring the turnip greens, My early August planted radishes have been froze out freezing and thawing and stinking since mid October, but the turnips are still in good shape and will get use if we get some decent snow fall.
My radishes planted early September in my garden are much smaller, but still have green leaves and seem to be still alive, this is 100 yards from the froze out ones in my food plot, i believe the late planted radish's are more hardy being that most of the tuber is still in the ground, or it could be that the rye with it is insulating them from freezing, whatever the case, i am going to plant my brassicas mixed with rye early September next fall, I may not get big turnips either, but i am thinking more smaller plants my be a good thing, It seems that smaller turnips are the first eaten in my plots anyway.

 

[MarkDarvin]

I'm not sure what I'd work on next if I had food left in a plot. I'm always in a spot where I have to keep finding space to make food. I'm getting cleaned out by less than 7 deer, so I have to keep scratching open spaces to plant more.

 

[Mennoniteman]

It's bitterly cold here in PA, and brassicas are one of the few green things left for deer to eat, along with Japanese Honeysuckle vines, greenbriers and rye. So now our DER, PTT, and GHR are being hit hard, whereas they were only lightly utilized in the fall. I agree that they go for the radish tops first, but now with the hard freeze they are starting to eat the PTT bulbs which froze out and are practically laying on top of the ground like baseballs. Brassica is an important part of our winter deer feeding program.