Planting Forage Radish for deer
Raphanus sativus
Deer hit this hard. That is the point.
- Seeding rate
- 8 to 10 lb
- per acre, broadcast
- Minimum plot
- 1 acre
- smaller gets browsed out
- Plant
- Mid to late summer, 60 to 80 days before first frost
Rates are broadcast figures. Drilling runs roughly a third lower. These are starting points from extension guidance and have not yet been re-checked against a second source per record, so treat them as indicative and soil test before you buy seed.
About Forage Radish
A brassica that earns its place twice, once as forage and once as tillage. The root drives a foot or more straight down through compacted layers, then winterkills and rots, leaving an open channel behind it. On old pasture or anywhere that has been driven on, a radish crop does more for soil structure than a subsoiler and costs a fraction as much. As food it behaves like turnip: tops taken after frost sweetens them, roots dug through winter. Broadcast at 8 to 10 lb per acre. Same timing discipline as turnip, same rotation warning about club root, same acreage floor. Be ready for the smell. A field of radish rotting off in a February thaw is genuinely unpleasant and it catches people out.
Soil and care
- Soil pH
- 6 to 7.5
- Drainage
- Average garden soil
- Water
- Moderate
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Maintenance
- Low
Similar to Forage Radish
Other food plot forages with the same deer rating.
- Cereal RyeSecale cerealeZones 3–9Frequently damaged
- Crimson CloverTrifolium incarnatumZones 5–9Frequently damaged
- Forage ChicoryCichorium intybusZones 3–9Frequently damaged
- Forage OatsAvena sativaZones 5–9Frequently damaged
- Forage SoybeansGlycine maxZones 5–10Frequently damaged
- Iron Clay CowpeasVigna unguiculataZones 6–11Frequently damaged
Protecting Forage Radish
Deer will destroy this without protection, so the question is which kind you are willing to pay for.
- How tall a deer fence needs to beEight feet, and six is the most common expensive mistake in deer fencing.
- What a deer fence costsMaterial ratios are stable even when prices are not, and installation reliably doubles the figure.
- Repellent that actually worksThe egg-based recipe that reproduces the active ingredient in the commercial sprays that win university trials.
- Check it is actually deerDeer tear and leave a ragged stub. A clean 45-degree cut is rabbits, and slug holes get blamed on deer constantly.
Where Forage Radish grows
Hardy across most of these 51 states on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering.
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- New York
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Texas
- Colorado
- California
- Oregon
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Maine
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- Utah
- Nevada
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Alaska
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
Browse from here
Every list Forage Radish belongs to.
Hardy in these zones
Common questions about Forage Radish
- What is the seeding rate for Forage Radish?
- Broadcast 8 to 10 lb per acre. Drilled rates run roughly a third lower. Soil test before buying seed, because pH matters more to the outcome than the rate does.
- When should I plant Forage Radish?
- Mid to late summer, 60 to 80 days before first frost. It is a cool-season crop, so the window is set by your average first frost rather than by the month.
- How big does a Forage Radish plot need to be?
- About 1 acre as a realistic floor. Below that, deer graze the crop faster than it establishes and you get bare ground instead of forage. Local deer density moves this number more than anything else.
- Do deer actually eat Forage Radish?
- Frequently Severely Damaged on the Rutgers scale, which measures how heavily deer damage a plant. On an ornamental that is a warning. On a food plot crop it is the specification.
- What hardiness zones does Forage Radish grow in?
- Forage Radish is hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat.
- How big does Forage Radish get?
- Mature height is roughly 6–36 in. Growth rate is fast.