kennett Posted February 28, 2016 Report Share Posted February 28, 2016 Been part time for ages but never done my own cover. This year to save money we are looking at diy'ing it, i have priced up kale blocks with tanka millet mix windbreaks. My question is, what are everyone's views on this mix? An will kale give us decent cover in the first year? Got wet clay soils so I'm guessing it would need to be drilled relatively late to let the soil warm up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted February 28, 2016 Report Share Posted February 28, 2016 Kale will give you plenty of cover in the first year as a rule but then I guess that may depend on how late you need to drill it , you need to get it going as the small seedlings do not like dry conditions from what I have seen I my farms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konnie Posted February 28, 2016 Report Share Posted February 28, 2016 Kale in my opinion is the best cover by far, if you can keep the flea beetle controled, as with all covers soil temp needs to be on the rise, youhave to find a bit more feed than when using maize but cover is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cambsman Posted March 5, 2016 Report Share Posted March 5, 2016 +1. Flea beetle can ruin it. Big problem in many areas hence the use of maize as cover crop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted March 5, 2016 Report Share Posted March 5, 2016 A big local shoot which is firstly a working farm plants fodder beet in raised furrows. The overlapping leaves offer fabulous cover for birds in bad weather and at first glance it is just a field of fodder beet; until the dogs get in amongst it. At seasons end the gates are opened and the sheep graze them. Our rough shoot comes out of schemes this year so hopefully we'll grow some for the season after. Well worth consideration if you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferretboy111 Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Kale is good but is best in its second year. We use a mix from brights called striker which has a mustard to protect the kale early on. Hasn't failed us yet and we are wet clay. We use Flightpath Maize, dwarf sorghum, a partridge mix of linseed,tritical and gold of pleasure and a Buckwheat, mustard, millet mix for an early seeded cover. If your doing the blocks yourself id go for kale but remember to spray it 2/3 times for flea beetle. Or a block of pure sorghum but make sure it's drilled in wide rows like maize otherwise it's too thick for anything to get into. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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