Oats & Japenese Radish

[alisonb]

Here she 'grows' . Planted on 16 March. I will keep those of you that are interested updated with progress of radish i.e.when I start feeding, size etc.

 

[Douglas]

^ Is the soil wet in those photos or is that normal?

 

[alisonb]

The soil is wet, it has had apprx 90mm since I planted it, 34mm over the weekend when I took the pics.

 

[1982vett]

Looks good........maybe a little thin on the oats, but what do I know about South Africa farming.

 

[alisonb]

Thanks vett . In my area we are going into winter with no rainfall so any rain I recieve now up until the end of the month is a bonus thereon its irrigation and ....frost. I planted the radish & oats in a fertilizer spreader, adding the oats basically to get a better spread on the radish and also as a frost protection for the radish. As far as the spacing is concerned, remember the Japanese Radish will grow till the size of a rugby ball, all going well :shock: .

 

[novaman]

Sorry for asking possibly dumb questions but it has been awhile since I was last to S. Africa . When you are talking frost is it just the occasional nip or do you get cold and stay cold? I guess I'm confused what the goal is with the crop but then I also don't know your weather patterns at all.

 

[plumber_greg]

I'm supid too, by radish do you mean what we call turnip? I ani't never seen a radish that my cows could eat! gs

 

[1982vett]

No, not a turnip. Its a long rooted white radish sort of on the order of a carrot.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daikon

Mom used to raise a radish similar to these. Not sure if it was the same thing, but I guess it could have been. Been about 40 years ago so I don't really remember all that much about them.

 

[plumber_greg]

I don't know what a rugby ball looks like, but it surely don't look like a carrot! Do they kick a rugby ball, or hit it with something? Did you ever try to hit a carrot with a bat? I'm really confused now(but that's really easy to do anyway). gs

 

[1982vett]

I don't know what a rugby ball looks like, but it surely don't look like a carrot! Do they kick a rugby ball, or hit it with something? Did you ever try to hit a carrot with a bat? I'm really confused now(but that's really easy to do anyway). gs

:lol: I think I'm setting on the same bench you are now.......I'll admit the link that posted isn't the one I intended to post......but where did rugby balls come from....... :lol: Yeah the leaf is different but I think the shape of the root is a lot like a carrot.

Remember, carrots are no longer only come in orange...do they TexasBred.

 

[regolith]

Will they eat the root?

The long white is what I know as Japanese radish, nothing like a rugby ball but I know for sure my cows wouldn't eat it.
I like them though.

 

[alisonb]

:lol: :lol: This is what a rugby ball looks like and no Greg you can't hit it with a bat, I think they kick it :lol: :lol:
http://www.google.co.za/search?sour...lz=1T4GGLL_enZA345ZA345&q=rugby+ball+pictures

Here is a pic of radish I took out of a pasture book. The cows ravish the leaves and the tubers (Rego-I think even your cows will eat them and it increases milk production ).
Novaman- Bloemfontein has a 'steppe' climate, very hot summers and relatively cold winters. June & July being the most severe(night temps anywhere between 27 & 16), black & white frost that kills off most plants.
The radish is frost tolerant but after a few hits of frost some of the leaves 'yellow' slightly but tuber is uneffected. The seeding rate is 4kg/ha (8.8lbs/2.47acres) and one should lift apprx 10tons/ha(DM).
The advantage of radish is it is ready for feeding by mid-winter therefore plugging the gap until other pastures are ready at the end of the season.

Vett-Thanks for the link but it is not the same thing as you can see .

 

[1982vett]

Vett-Thanks for the link but it is not the same thing as you can see .

:shock: Nope, that doesn't look like what I described.......Hey, that does look like a turnip.......without the purple top. :lol:

Was puzzled when you mentioned how big the tops get....Now we know. :nod:

 

[novaman]

one should lift apprx 10tons/ha(DM).

One last question. Is that metric tons or American (or standard or whatever, man why don't we just have one system!!!) tons? Ok just one more question. How long does it take for the radish to get to a harvestable point? You are grazing them I would assume.

 

[regolith]

That's got to be metric tons - it's a standard expectation for turnip crops anyway.

It was the long radish I tried offering the cows - forgot, it wasn't my cows it was a Friesian herd I managed a few years back. My boss laughed at me because he though it was too 'hot' for their taste. They ate all the other stuff I chucked out of the garden though - squash, brassica leaves, broccoli.

I think kale or rape is what is mainly used for winter crop here - turnips for summer. I'm a bit leery of any of them because of the risk of milk taint, high nitrates, using land that could be growing good grass, mud... Maybe if I actually tried those systems I'd change my views.

Is your radish hot like the garden radishes, or more mild like a turnip?

 

[alisonb]

That would be metric tons (1 ton=1000kg),my apologies . The entire plant gets lifted and fed to animals twice/day. It will take apprx 4 months for tubers to reach maturity. I start feeding when tubers are half size and the foilage is substantial, usually at about 2.5months. Once the tubers have been removed in a specified area, the area gets cordoned off with an electric wire and the oats is then grazed by animals.
If the radish is allowed to go through into the summer season it seeds and becomes 'pithy'.

Is your radish hot like the garden radishes, or more mild like a turnip?

Sort of in between ;-) . I have never had a problem with nitrates or milk taint, touch wood .

 

[Kingfisher]

Vett-Thanks for the link but it is not the same thing as you can see .

:shock: Nope, that doesn't look like what I described.......Hey, that does look like a turnip.......without the purple top. :lol:

Was puzzled when you mentioned how big the tops get....Now we know. :nod:

I don't know if its a turnip or a radish but its pretty darn big! What would you do if your cows didn't eat those bulbs? Geez
What if they did eat em? I suppose the picture isn't a cow pasture.

 

[alisonb]

What would you do if your cows didn't eat those bulbs? Geez

I reckon it will make some good green manure ;-) but I have yet to see a cow that won't eat it. The radish in that pic is probably meant for lifting and not grazing but I've seen many a farmer use it as pasture. If you lift greater yields (30%) are achieved but it is obviously more labour intensive.

 

[novaman]

Ever have cows get one of those radishs lodged in her throat? I think I remember somebody telling me they grazed turnips and had a cow or two die from getting it stuck in there.

 

[alisonb]

Novaman, there is a risk of that happening, I have never experienced it though. I find that the larger you feed the radish the less chance of choking as the cow is in control of the mouthful it takes (to an extent). Some people say chop them up but I believe that's when you are going to pick up grief.