Canola seeds are similar in size to radish seeds, which makes it difficult to clean contaminated canola seed and increases the risk of spreading wild radish. The rapid establishment of its seedlings makes wild radish extremely competitive in crops. This problem has increased with the introduction of modern crop varieties which are shorter in habit, thus allowing the domination by wild radish. The long tap root of wild radish enables it to withstand drought and provides adequate food reserves for regrowth after leaf loss through slashing, grazing or the activity of some herbicides. Wild radish produces abundant seeds.
Plants emerging at any time of the year can go on to flower and set viable seeds.
Seed dormancy Dormancy in wild radish seed is largely due to the pod surrounding the seed. Some freshly-shed seeds lose their dormancy over the summer months. However, at the start of the cropping season, some seeds can become dormant again. A drop in temperature may be responsible for the induction of dormancy. About 70 per cent of the seeds are dormant at the start of the season.