When they won't eat brassica's

[wiscwhip]

We tried those as well and like I have said, they ate them all. Huge leafy area and no real bulb to speak of on the pasja. I believe it is a Chinese cabbage/turnip cross. Developed in New Zealand for grazing cattle and sheep. We tried Appin, Seven Top, and a few others I can't remember off hand. Our deer ate them all like crazy, so it was our go-to planting other than winter rye. We tried a few BOB brassica blends as well and they all grew great and were eaten to the ground. FF Big n Beasty has pasja and we planted that one along with AK Honey Hole. WI Winter-greens was another of the BOB's we tried. They all worked equally well so after some experiments, we just went with what we could get from Welters and the local coops.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

We tried those as well and like I have said, they ate them all. Huge leafy area and no real bulb to speak of on the pasja. I believe it is a Chinese cabbage/turnip cross. Developed in New Zealand for grazing cattle and sheep. We tried Appin, Seven Top, and a few others I can't remember off hand. Our deer ate them all like crazy, so it was our go-to planting other than winter rye. We tried a few BOB brassica blends as well and they all grew great and were eaten to the ground. FF Big n Beasty has pasja and we planted that one along with AK Honey Hole. WI Winter-greens was another of the BOB's we tried. They all worked equally well so after some experiments, we just went with what we could get from Welters and the local coops.

good to know. welters' description says pasja turnip production is dependent on fertility.

 

[wiscwhip]

I would suppose that is true if you want them 3' tall for cattle grazing. They grew just like all the rest at our place. Sandy, ph sucked, and the fertility was nominal at best, they weren't any worse than any other brassicas we tried. And besides, everyone knows that brassicas LOVE nitrogen!

 

[bueller]

I've used Pasja in the past and still have a leftover pound or two that I will use but after that I will not be buying anymore. The greens grew very well for me but there was essentially no bulb production. I prefer turnips that produce large bulbs. The deer by me readily consume purple tops, barkants, and all others. Without bulbs I would have a clean plot before gun season most years. With bulbs I still have deer feeding in my turnip plot during February this year.

 

[wiscwhip]

bueller's advice is spot on, if you want bulb production, pasja is not your huckleberry! If one truly has deer that will eat brassica, bulbs and all like ours did, I would still have to recommend some type of daikon radish(GHR, Trophy, Tillage, etc.) and either PPT or Green Globe and potentially rutabagas(they get huge!).

 

[phil@thesidehill]

I would suppose that is true if you want them 3' tall for cattle grazing. They grew just like all the rest at our place. Sandy, ph sucked, and the fertility was nominal at best, they weren't any worse than any other brassicas we tried. And besides, everyone knows that brassicas LOVE nitrogen!

I was curious if the bulb production was non-existent or if it was just smaller bulbs....all things considered....so if increased fertility meant you would go from a "celery stalk" to a golf ball. My deer eat every part of the brassicas i have planted (DER, GHFR, Bonnar, and PTT). I wouldn't waste my time or money on more fert just to get some bigger bulbs on a different variety, when my deer will eat PTT's and GHFR's already in the fertility that i already have.

 

[bueller]

I also have some leftover GHFR and after using it up I doubt that I will be purchasing anymore.
#1- I like to plant my brassicas early for maximum bulb growth and the GHFR bolts and goes to seed WAY too early for me.
#2- My deer browse and consume the plants before they have much opportunity to put on any root growth, which is what I'm really after. PTT and barkants give me more than enough greens AND they have the large bulbs.

Now remember in my area the deer will browse the heck out of the greens even from PTT well before the first frost. I do understand other areas are different and therefore your brassicas plantings may vary greatly from what I do.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

I've used Pasja in the past and still have a leftover pound or two that I will use but after that I will not be buying anymore. The greens grew very well for me but there was essentially no bulb production. I prefer turnips that produce large bulbs. The deer by me readily consume purple tops, barkants, and all others. Without bulbs I would have a clean plot before gun season most years. With bulbs I still have deer feeding in my turnip plot during February this year.

yep....my turnips and radishes were still being dug for as of about a week ago. I think the slight warm up followed by a hard freeze made an ice layer they cant get through now. with about 14" of snow on the ground i cant see if they stopped because there weren't anymore left or not...but i dont think that is case. I think the ice layer is too hard to get through now. I'm pretty sure as things start to thaw out i will see some additional usage in march.

 

[bueller]

I was curious if the bulb production was non-existent or if it was just smaller bulbs....all things considered....so if increased fertility meant you would go from a "celery stalk" to a golf ball. My deer eat every part of the brassicas i have planted (DER, GHFR, Bonnar, and PTT). I wouldn't waste my time or money on more fert just to get some bigger bulbs on a different variety, when my deer will eat PTT's and GHFR's already in the fertility that i already have.

The root/bulb on my Pasja's were only about the thickness of aparagus. And that's with a good amount of nitrogen applied and PTT"s growing right next to them that were nearing 12" softball size.

 

[wiscwhip]

I was curious if the bulb production was non-existent or if it was just smaller bulbs....all things considered....so if increased fertility meant you would go from a "celery stalk" to a golf ball. My deer eat every part of the brassicas i have planted (DER, GHFR, Bonnar, and PTT). I wouldn't waste my time or money on more fert just to get some bigger bulbs on a different variety, when my deer will eat PTT's and GHFR's already in the fertility that i already have.

No bulb just a fat area where the "root" enters the ground and then on into the tap root.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

I also have some leftover GHFR and after using it up I doubt that I will be purchasing anymore.
#1- I like to plant my brassicas early for maximum bulb growth and the GHFR bolts and goes to seed WAY too early for me.
#2- My deer browse and consume the plants before they have much opportunity to put on any root growth, which is what I'm really after. PTT and barkants give me more than enough greens AND they have the large bulbs.

Now remember in my area the deer will browse the heck out of the greens even from PTT well before the first frost. I do understand other areas are different and therefore your brassicas plantings may vary greatly from what I do.

I planted my brassicas earlier this year to try to increase bulb production and i ran into the GHFR bolting as well. I'm thinking of reducing the GHFR rate in the mix this year, as well as moving the planting date up about 7-10 days weather depending.

 

[wiscwhip]

I also have some leftover GHFR and after using it up I doubt that I will be purchasing anymore.
#1- I like to plant my brassicas early for maximum bulb growth and the GHFR bolts and goes to seed WAY too early for me.
#2- My deer browse and consume the plants before they have much opportunity to put on any root growth, which is what I'm really after. PTT and barkants give me more than enough greens AND they have the large bulbs.

Now remember in my area the deer will browse the heck out of the greens even from PTT well before the first frost. I do understand other areas are different and therefore your brassicas plantings may vary greatly from what I do.

We planted our PPT patches earlier than the GHR's. We usually waited with the GHR until we put in our fall cereal plots and many times just mixed them in with the rye. We liked to plant the PPT when we mowed down our previous years rye planting. Sometimes we would put in a crop of BW and then put the turnips in after it had matured and been terminated.