I planted a brassica mix in one of my foodplots in the middle june..Im from wisconsin and they are doing well with the little rain that we have had but my question is the forage is about 10-12" high right now and was wondering if I wanted to mow it a few inches to stimulate growth to prevent it from flowering out?Leave it go for fall? or just till it back under?? I am stumped! I would have liked to have waited till now to plant but it just wasnt an option! So any info on what I should do would be greatly appreciated!
depending on how thick they are, i would overseed more brassicas into them. i would not mow them...brassicas are not quite like clovers or alfalfas...they do not regenerate that fast. if it is 10-12 inches tall then it still has a ways to go. my turnips got 2 1/2 feet tall last year. you could also lightly disk....without tilling under all the existing plot....before reseeding. that will help the new seeds take hold.
I also would leave them be also. I have heard of people mowing them. I am messing around a little this year with clipping off some brassicas I planted early. You could maybe mow a strip of them and see how they turn out. What I would do is before a rain broadcast some more fertilizer, depending on what you can get in your area, 17-17-17 or something close to it. Nothing with a 'weed killer' in it, that would not be good. That will give it a little extra boost. Or a 46-0-0. But you have to make sure a rain is 100% on it's way with that 46-0-0(urea). Good luck and keep us updated.
