Fodder radish green manure "MINO EARLY", 200 g, Baltic Agro

• Species: Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus — fodder radish (daikon)
• Variety: "Mino Early"
• Purpose: green manure, catch crop
• Producer: Baltic Agro
• Pack: 200 g ≈ 400 m²
• Sowing time: April to early September
• Seed rate: 0.5 g/m² (~5 kg/ha)
• Depth: 2–3 cm
• Hardiness: not winter-hardy, dies off by itself
• Root: thick taproot, breaks up compacted layers
• Benefits: weed suppression, soil structure, nutrient lifting, less soil-borne disease
• Do not follow with: cabbage, radish, turnip and other brassicas

When to sow. The usual time is August–September, straight after lifting potatoes or clearing vegetables. Sow at least six weeks before the first frost so the root has time to build. Spring sowing in April–May works if a bed stands empty for the summer.

How to sow. Rake the ground level, broadcast the seed (0.5 g per square metre — about a teaspoon), rake it in lightly and water. No drills needed.

Do not let it flower. Cut or dig it in at 20–30 cm, before buds appear. A flowered plant goes fibrous, breaks down slowly and self-seeds.

Dig in or leave? On light soil leave it over winter: frost does the work, the leaves cover the ground and by spring a soft mat is all that remains, which you simply rake in. On heavy clay dig it in shallowly in autumn (5–10 cm); deeper is unnecessary.

Rotation. Fodder radish is a brassica, like cabbage and radish. Do not sow it where cabbage grew or will grow, or you build up exactly the diseases the green manure was meant to reduce. Potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and maize follow it well.

What it does not do. It adds no nitrogen — that is the job of legumes (beans, lupin, clover). Its work is soil structure and holding nutrients so winter rain does not wash them away.