Oil radish: green manure, forage, honey plant

Radish as siderat

Vegetables, like rapeseed, are increasingly used as green manure. This phenomenon is gaining industrial proportions. This is due to soil depletion.

Soil protection and enrichment

The radish is characterized by a strong, developed root system. The long stem allows the plant to absorb nutrients from the lower layers. The tops of the crop rot and become fertilizing rich in organic matter and humus.

The use of the oilseed vegetable is quite effective today. The culture reliably protects the soil from erosion in autumn and spring. And if the remains of plants are left in the garden, then in winter they will be able to reliably hold the snow, that is, they will provide the soil with water and protect it from deep freezing.

The vegetable also has a positive effect on the structure of the earth. It loosens the soil and ensures its drainage even at considerable depths. As a result, the soil is better permeable to moisture and air.

The remnants of the root and its branches nourish the earth with minerals. A kilogram of soil accounts for 85 kilograms of nitrogen, 25 for phosphorus and a centner of potassium.

Phytosanitary qualities

The crop contains essential oils that help protect the crop and soil from fungi and pest attacks. Oil radish often acts as a prophylactic agent in order to avoid the attack of wireworm, potato scab, and nematodes. The dense green mass of the vegetable perfectly shades the ground and prevents weeds from germinating. The pod is also used to combat hard-to-remove weeds, such as wheatgrass. Decayed leaves are an excellent breeding ground for earth-friendly microorganisms.

However, it is forbidden to use this species as a green manure of the precursor of cabbage.

Video "Sowing radish"

In this video, you will see how to properly sow this crop.

Radish as a forage crop

Like rapeseed, radish is used as livestock feed. This use of the vegetable became possible due to its high yield and rapid ripening. It is easy to collect 300-400 centners of fruits from a hectare, and by systematically fertilizing the land, the indicator can be raised to 700 centners. It takes about one and a half months between sowing and the formation of plants. You can mow the tops three times per season. Greens are given to animals in their pure form, sometimes they act as raw materials for the preparation of silage, haylage, briquettes, grass flour. Radish is ensiled with other herbs, and also includes it in oat and pea mixtures.After the formation of 4 leaves, the plant is an excellent accompaniment to corn.

For food, it is better to plant a vegetable together with sunflowers, legumes and cereals.

Weeding the crop allows the animals to be walked on pasture even in autumn. The formation and development of plants occurs at a temperature of 5 ° -6 °. Frosts are not terrible for radishes: they develop well even at -4 °. And already formed shoots even tolerate the indicator - 7 ° well.

The culture is very nutritious. Its energy value is similar to compound feed, alfalfa and clover. There is a lot of protein in the vegetable: up to 26%. In this case, the protein consists of the optimal amount of amino acids. Radish contains a lot of zinc, potassium, iron and other elements. During flowering, a kilogram of green mass has 30 milligrams of carotene and 600 - vitamin C.

Radish like honey plant

Oil-bearing vegetable, like rapeseed, is an excellent honey plant. This radish has a long flowering period (about a month) and is capable of producing nectar even in the cool season. Collecting "honey" is usually carried out in early spring and mid-summer. Although, usually during this period, honey plants already fade. Nectar contains up to 20% of the mass of sucrose, fructose and glucose. It has a pleasant smell and a number of medicinal characteristics.

However, radish honey thickens quickly, so you cannot leave it in combs for the winter.

Bees love to collect rare nectar in the morning and on cloudy days. The flowers of the culture bloom early: at 6-7 o'clock.

Growing

You can plant oil-type radish at different times. It all depends on what goal you are pursuing by deciding to grow a vegetable. The seeding rate usually falls between April and mid-September. The most prolific individuals are those that were planted in April. For food and as green manure, radish is sown, observing a distance of 0.15 meters. Per unit area, on average, 2-3 grams of seed fall. In this case, the seed should be buried no more than 3-4 centimeters.

More seeds will be required for late sowing. At the end of the first decade of August, the rate increases twice. This is due to the slowdown in the development of culture in the cool season. It should be noted that it is better not to use late sowing for greening.

To collect honey, as well as to obtain seeds, the vegetable is sown with 40-centimeter row spacings.

The first shoots appear in 4 days, and after a month and a half, the first mowing can be carried out. The color appears a month after the formation of the shoots.

For winter green manure, the plant is removed 3 weeks before sowing.

In order for the tops of the vegetable to rot, and humus is formed from it, it is necessary to provide the remains of the plant with a moist environment (wet soil).

In the case of preparing the land for sowing in spring, the radish should be in the ground until the first frost.

The seeds are usually harvested in late autumn. The pods do not change their shape, so the seed dries out under normal conditions. This feature of the culture allows you to save on electric drying.

In our country, such varieties of oil radish are most in demand: Sabina, Nika, Prygazhunya, Brutus, Raduga, Tambovchanka.

So, honey radish has industrial and strategic importance, therefore it is becoming more and more popular every day.

Video "Overview of honey radish"

In this video you will see the features of this variety.