Mathews Inc.
Use of oilseed radish to improve plot?
Whitetail Deer
Contributors to this thread:
Canuck 26-Jul-14
Zbone 26-Jul-14
t-roy 26-Jul-14
Canuck 27-Jul-14
nutritionist 27-Jul-14
From: Canuck
26-Jul-14
A feed store in my area recommended using oilseed radishes to improve my food plot's soil quality, as I planted Brassica in it two years in a row (a real no-no I have since learned).

Can anyone out there shed some light on this? AND if oilseed radishes aren't the way to go, what is?

Thanks in advance,

From: Zbone
26-Jul-14
Isn't a radish a Brassica?

Same, same, I'm confused...

From: t-roy
26-Jul-14
Not sure what oilseed radishes are, but if they are similar to groundhog or forage radishes, they are supposed to help the soil in several ways.

They have a long taproot that breaks the hardpan, pull in & store a lot of nutrients near the surface where they can better be utilized by the next crop. The deer will eat the tops & root as well.

Probably a lot more info on the deer builder site.

From: Canuck
27-Jul-14
thanks guys. Z, I hear you, they are a type of brassica, yet I read the same thing about them that t posted.

Anyone else?

From: nutritionist
27-Jul-14
Daikon radish, forage radish, oil seed radish are all basically the same products. As i posted recently, MSU and Minnesota did a trial using various brands of radish and they all basically compared similar. They should as there are only a handfull of growers of radish in the US. People put names like bio till, tillage max, tillage radish etc etc.....it's all about putting a brand name on a daikon radish. Some will argue this but there is a reason why the research shook out the way it did. I'll need to leave it at that.

I sell a lot of daikon radish with berseem clover and call the product plot restore. When one mixes berseem clover with radish, it thins out the seed so as to prevent too high of seeding rate.

benefits: -Reduces soil erosion and surface runoff -Increases earthworm population -Improves soil microbiology -Builds soil tilth -Produces and scavenges nutrients -Reduces compaction -Improves weed control of winter annuals -Increases nitrogen fixation -Improves water holding capacity -Improves aeration

Daikon Radishes grow deep roots that help with soil compaction. They're allelopathic, which means they give off a biochemical (glycosinolate compounds) that inhibits weed growth. The top growth helps reduce soil erosion.?They naturally take up nitrogen and after dying during the winter, they release it back into the soil for use by the subsequent crop.

So this is why i talk up radish in so many of my posts. I believe in plot rotation, and minimization of chemicals and supplemental fertilizers.

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