Too Early For Brassicas Zone 3A?
- Thread starter Kooch
- Start date
I just saw this dbltree quote from a long time ago on another site.
"You may get away with a June planting if property is far enough north but early planting can result in plants maturing and becoming unpalatable to deer.
Plant 90-100 days before average first frost in your area"
First frost in my area is Sept 17th ish.
SmallChunk
5 year old buck +
I'm in 4a and will be planting next week. Slam it in!
Wild Thing
5 year old buck +
Me too - 2nd week in July has never been too early here.
wiscwhip
5 year old buck +
If you wait until mid-August, you will lose over a month of growth. If your first frost is in mid-Sept as you state, you then get a couple frosts a week or so early(which has been known to happen in northern MN
), your plants will have had only around 30 days of growth, which will not give you much in the way of tuber production and even the upper foliage will not have reached its full growth potential.
), your plants will have had only around 30 days of growth, which will not give you much in the way of tuber production and even the upper foliage will not have reached its full growth potential.
bbcoach
5 year old buck +
I agree with the above comments. 90 days prior to first frost is ideal IMO. If you don't get timely rain, can't get your second or even third application of fertilizer on the brassicas and early cold weather can hurt the yield. I agree, plant now and pray for timely rains.
That's the plan then. And, I hesitate to even say it, but weather underground is predicting up to an inch of rain on Sunday. I may have just applied the jinx.
Along with ~5LB per acre of the brassica mix I'll spread a mix of crimson/balansa/frosty berseem clover. Later in the Summer, mid-August, if it's spotty or eaten to the ground, I'll overseed with WR.
Along with ~5LB per acre of the brassica mix I'll spread a mix of crimson/balansa/frosty berseem clover. Later in the Summer, mid-August, if it's spotty or eaten to the ground, I'll overseed with WR.
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eclipseman
5 year old buck +
Not to hijack but what do you all say for 5a?
Also, I thought PPT was a 60 day grower...not 90 but certainly not an expert. just something I read.
Also, I thought PPT was a 60 day grower...not 90 but certainly not an expert. just something I read.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
And radish also matures earlier than PTT.
wiscwhip
5 year old buck +
Radish and PPT are anywhere from 50 -70 days to maturity, but if you get frost in mid-Sept, mid-July would be 60 days, so planting this week would not be a stretch at all in Kooch's situation. If he were down in central IL or IN somewhere, then yeah, waiting a month or even more would be advisable if using short maturity brassicas like PPT and radish. Longer term brassicas like rutabagas or rape could still be planted now, even in those more southerly locations.
bbcoach
5 year old buck +
eclipseman, PTT is a 60-90 day affair. 60 days with the right conditions (rain and fertilizer) will grow great tops but if you want tops and roots 90 days is what you should shoot for. All this is dependent on rain and nutrition. Days + good rain + good nutrition = Great Brassicas, take away any one of these and yield will suffer. I am in zone 8 and we will plant around the 15th of August, our avg first frost is around the 10th of November.
Spread the clover and brassica this evening. I'll fertilize tomorrow afternoon, then run a drag over it all. There is a lot of garbage and mulch on the ground so hopefully it'll get some ground contact. WR grew last year just broadcast, so we'll see.
This was the first time I've seen brassica or clover seed. I hadn't opened the packages until today. Holy cow it's small seed. I figured it'd be about like the radish seed. Boy was I wrong. The brassica seed looked like finely ground pepper to me. Amazing.
This was the first time I've seen brassica or clover seed. I hadn't opened the packages until today. Holy cow it's small seed. I figured it'd be about like the radish seed. Boy was I wrong. The brassica seed looked like finely ground pepper to me. Amazing.
bbcoach
5 year old buck +
Clover and brassica seed are very small. You only need seed to soil contact for the roots to get started. DO NOT cover more than a 1/4 of an inch or the seed won't be able to germinate and break through. We normally disc, cultipack the soil, sow the seed and cultipack again. If you have disced the plot then just run something heavy over the seed, ATV tires work great. WR will grow in the back of a pickup so just top seed and pack down. Fertilize when you can, right before a good rain is a great time. Good luck.
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Wild Thing
5 year old buck +
I would never run a drag over either clover or brassica seed. If you wanted to drag the garbage and mulch on the surface you should do that before you broadcast those small seeds. As bbcoach said - winter rye will grow almost anywhere, but clover and brassica seed just needs to be broadcasted and packed down, if anything. If you drag it you will wipe out seed in many spots and clump it up way too thick in other spots. The biggest issue, by far IMO, is spreading brassica seed too heavy. You will get a lot of very stunted plants that will never amount to anything. When seeding brassicas, seeding too light is much better than seeding too heavy.
And spot sprayed with glyphosate whatever wasn’t dead from the previous spraying.
Fingers crossed. If all else fails, I know I can grow rye. And it should be even easier with all the lime I’ve been putting down all season, along with fertilizing for brassicas and clover.
Fingers crossed. If all else fails, I know I can grow rye. And it should be even easier with all the lime I’ve been putting down all season, along with fertilizing for brassicas and clover.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
If you got any measurable amount of rain a all your brassica will be up in 4 days wether you disked, packed, dragged, or TNM. It is easy to grow and a total wast of time and money do do any soil prep.
