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SE PA | Did some digging today.
You can see the various selections. I tried to get a representative sample of each one. These all were planted at the same rate-same day-same drill. As you can see there was a distinct difference in plant population. At the bottom is a number that refers to plants per foot- (ppf). I didn't do a seeds per lb for each selection but they all looked nearly the same. There is a direct correlation of plants per foot and root size, especially when comparing the tillage radishes to the oilseeds. I had set the drill for 8lbs per acre as that is the rate I use when planting tillage radishes with my JD 1560 no till drill. 4 ppf - or one plant every 3" is the ideal seeding rate for tillage radishes. The oilseeds came out with a 2.2 and 2.6 ppf which may explain why they almost always require a higher seeding rate. You can observe that the plant density of the oilseeds was less by the way the leaves are more prostrate.
The popular variety from Brazil "Nabo" is a flop as far as I am concerned aside from the good plant population. I did seed some just the other day (Oct 1) to see if them being a shorter season maturity would do better planted later.
The named oilseed radish, "Colonel" is specifically selected to reduce nematodes and is used quite a bit in Michigan. It defiantly has more hairy roots coming out the side of the root and this may be why it works better for nematode reduction as I've heard the "more roots the better" for nematode control.
 (4 radishes.jpg)
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 4 radishes.jpg (63KB - 110 downloads)
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the radish dig report
