Brassica question

[Potter co notill]

I just recently No -tilled my brassicas into my LC Mix and noticed that some Med red clover is starting to come back or maybe was under the rye thatch and didn't get hit by the Gly.
So my question is there any spray I can use to kill the clover that won't hurt my brassicas or should I just let the clover go and my brassicas will be fine.

 

[Gilly]

Let the clover grow!

 

[wiscwhip]

Leave that clover, the brassicas will be fine and the clover may help take some early browse pressure off the brassicas allowing them to get larger before they get eaten down.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

Yep, never kill a good food source hoping another will take its place. Might end up with nothing. Leave the clover.

 

[yoderjac]

The clover is a great companion to brassica. I often drill radish into established clover.

 

[swat1018]

I don't understand why I would beat back my clover to drill some radish. Maybe if I had a shortage of plantable acreage it would makes sense.

 

[yoderjac]

I don't understand why I would beat back my clover to drill some radish. Maybe if I had a shortage of plantable acreage it would makes sense.

For several reasons. I typically do it was older established clover plots. Clover fixes N into the soil. Over time, this makes the field more attractive to grasses and other weeds. Spraying a field of clover that is getting weedy with 1 qt/ac gly will kill most of the weeds and only top kill the clover. The clover bounces back quickly from the root system. Drilling GHR and/or cereal provides additional attraction of an annual. On top of that, these crops will use N that has been banked by the clover over the years. As the N us used up by these deer food crops, there is less N to support invading grasses. GHR is a great way to improve soil adding OM and organic tillage. WR drilled in to clover also has allopathic effects on weeds.

I would not use gly on a newly established clover plot. However, if your clover goes dormant in the summer, you can drill radish and WR without and herbicide suppressant.

I've posted these on other threads, but here are a couple pictures of the result when the clover bounces back:

In my area (zone 7a) the radish doesn't overwinter. The clover fills back in the following spring so you end up with a nice weed free clover field for a few more years.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Potter co notill]

I don't understand why I would beat back my clover to drill some radish. Maybe if I had a shortage of plantable acreage it would makes sense.

Well my deer actually eat more of the tubers in the stress period of winter than they do clover

 

[bbcoach]

Jack, What kind of success/failure should I expect if I top sow radishes into my clover to utilize the nitrogen it has produced? The clover is dormant and thinned due to the summer heat. Would it hurt the clover to top sow and pull a cultipacker over it?

 

[yoderjac]

Jack, What kind of success/failure should I expect if I top sow radishes into my clover to utilize the nitrogen it has produced? The clover is dormant and thinned due to the summer heat. Would it hurt the clover to top sow and pull a cultipacker over it?

I've always used a drill. The question with surface broadcasting my be weather. With a no-till drill the soil does not lose moisture as when it is tilled, so you can drill in drier conditions that generally accompany dormant clover. I know others have tried surface broadcasting brassica seed into dormant clover and cultipacking, but I haven't seen their results posted. I would not expect results to be quite as good as drilling in general, but it may depend on your weather. If you broadcast and cultipack before a thunderstorm, I would think that would increase your success.

Perhaps other who have surface broadcast had give you a better idea of what level of success to expect.

Thanks,

jack

 

[bbcoach]

We have been getting rain/thunderstorms about every 3 days lately so I believe I will be the guinea pig and broadcast and cultipack and see what results I get. I'll keep everyone updated in a new post. I'll probably wait till next week to sow and cultipack.

 

[yoderjac]

Love to see your progress!

 

[bbcoach]

I'll give it a shot and post some PICS.

 

[wiscwhip]

As long as you run a cultipacker over it to ensure you get good soil contact you should expect a decent plot. One thing that may also help when broadcasting into standing clover is to up the seeding rate to the high side of what is recommended due to the increased chances of spotty germination. Don't go heavier, just to the high side. Brassica seeded too heavy will produce smaller tubers.

 

[CuivreDog]

On July 30th I sprayed gly on three clover fields of mine that were nearing the end of there useful life as they were beginning to be taken over by grasses and sedges. The next day I broadcast (did not drill) brassicas into all three fields. In addition, I did the same thing in a roundup ready alfalfa field in an area of the field where the alfalfa was fairly thin ever since the initial planting. I did not cultipack, simply broadcasted the seed and walked away. The day after I broadcast and every day for the last week until today we have had rainfall ranging from 4 inches to a 1/4 inch.

I can tell you without a doubt that I have a lot of brassicas already coming up. Granted conditions have probably been as close to ideal as possible but I can also tell you that it was a complete success. I will post pictures as soon as the plants get large enough to show over the setback clover.

 

[John B]

As whip said, don't seed too heavy. They will come up broadcasting before a rain.

Mine are waaaaay too thick.


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[CuivreDog]

I thought I would post a pic of the brassicas I threw out on July 31st. These were broadcast seeded in an existing clover field that was sprayed with 1 quart of gly per acre. No rolling, no cultipacking, broadcast and walked away.

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[CuivreDog]

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