In my cover crop radish plot I have thinned some rows to 4″ between plants and in two rows I have left them thick (I figure I’m at the 12-15#/acre range). After 6 weeks there are some pretty telling signs that 12-15#/acre is too thick and possibly a waste of money. Most of the varieties […]
Cover Crop Radish – Rate Per Acre Read More »
My cover crop radish plot was planted on May 29, 2010 and now 6 weeks later we can see some characteristics even different from 2 weeks ago. A variety that was 8-9″ deep 2 weeks ago still appears to have that same depth. Another that I called “Stubby” is now looking quite interesting! Yet another
Cover Crop Radish Plot from July 10, 2010 Read More »
One of the most popular cover crops is winter cereal rye. It is a very versatile cover crop that has few disadvantages. While it does not have the deep, nor fibrous root system that annual ryegrass has, it reportedly has had 45″ deep roots found in north-central Indiana in May. Winter cereal rye can be
Over the past 9 years I have worked with Ed Ballard from the University of Illinois on grazing cattle over the winter. During the first 4-5 years I was much more concerned about the “above ground” aspect of the cover crop and weight gain by the animals. However, these past 4-5 years have shown me the
Grazing Cover Crops in the Winter Read More »
After 6 weeks my GroundHog Radish is around 12″ deep and 1″ in circumference at the top. How deep can radish roots go? Because we need to know things like that I have been doing quite a bit of research. The attached chart shows how deep some radishes can go…over 4 feet deep! WOW!
How deep can radish roots go? Read More »
I was visiting with a weed scientist from Purdue yesterday. He is an excellent scientist and gifted at weed ID as well. I asked him to work on a project and as he and I were discussing that he made a comment that I know needs to be ruminated upon. He asked me if I
Is annual ryegrass a weed? Read More »
I planted a cover crop Radish plot over Memorial Day Weekend (5/29) in my garden plot. I have 5 varieties in the plot from around the world. My goal is to see what differences there are in the different Radishes being sold in the USA for cover crops. I replicated the plots so that each
Radish Plot Report from June 26 Read More »
Hairy Vetch is a terrific nitrogen producing cover crop species. For Hairy Vetch to produce significant Nitrogen it needs to be established in adequate time to have good growth before going dormant in winter. Hairy Vetch must also be inoculated to be productive. One challenge with using Hairy Vetch is that it contains significant amounts
Hairy Vetch- a Top Nitrogen Producer Read More »