I planted about 5 acres worth of forage turnips and dwarf Essex rape on August 3rd. We got one rain on them on August 4th and it hasn't rained since then. It's been super hot this week (mid to upper 90's for highs) and I was fully expecting all of my plots to be burned up. Well I went out to the farm tonight to look over my dove field and I was shocked to see that all of the turnip/rape fields are green and appear to be doing okay. These things must be related to camels if they can keep moisture for over a month, especially since they weren't even germinated when the last rain came through. Has anyone planted this mixture in a drought and if so how long did they last before they finally died off?
I've never had any problems but never had drought conditions persist long enough to find out either. Last year was our worst drought in years and even then it broke in late September and my plots were all okay.
Stick - it was dry enough that when I was rototilling the plots there was a little cloud of dust behind the tractor. Now they are saying no rain for at least the next ten days. We are currently in the 4th longest dry spell in our local history.
