clethodim and clover

Technically .....NO. The issue is going to be the type of grass you are killing. Actually you can plant clover and spray with gly if you want - it should be cheaper and kill all the weeds....even the grass. Clover is a hard seed and gly needs vegetation to be able to enter the plant. The issue is that fescue tends to need more than one application to kill it and thus it can bounce back and still out compete your clover resulting in a poor or failed plot. What you ask can be done without risking the seed - it's just a matter of how effective the chemical will be to allow the seed to grow.

It appears you are new here - so first of all welcome! Secondly - I would ask a mod to move this to the "food plot" thread. I would also suggest you visit the "introductions" thread and introduce yourself to us. Some other things we encourage is to fill out your profile and add your location or USDA hardiness zone to help folks provide better support later.

Welcome to the site and have a look around!!!
 
Moved to the main "food plot" forum as sometimes the subforums see less traffic...

J-bird gave some great info and suggestions!

Welcome aboard!
 
I have sprayed my clover plots in the spring to kill the annual rye that shows up with little damage to the growing clover, but I reduced to rate to 1 qt. acre.
 
I have never been brave enough to spray a whole clover plot for weeds. I adjust my backpack sprayer to a fine stream instead of a wide mist and then walk through hitting all the patches of weeds I see. The clover around those patches never seems affected. 1/2 acre is my largest plot so not too much spraying either way.
 
Would there be any problem spraying clethodim to kill grass and seeding clover the same day?
I've never had any issue with cleth effecting clover. But I use surfactant and not crop oil...using oil may damage young clover.
As far as spraying cleth or gly on non-emerged plants (clover or anything else for that matter) it won't make a difference. Those herbicides are POST EMERGENCE.
 
when do most people spray clover plots for grass? i have usually waited till june or so but thinking about doing it earlier this year mid April or so. for the broadleaf i will probably still wait till to June, seem they are still going strong then, any opinion on that? thanks
 
when do most people spray clover plots for grass? i have usually waited till june or so but thinking about doing it earlier this year mid April or so. for the broadleaf i will probably still wait till to June, seem they are still going strong then, any opinion on that? thanks

It depends on the variety of grass. I've never found grass-spraying to be a "one-and-done" deal. They don't all emerge at the same time. Cool season varieties would be sprayed in the spring, before they get too mature. But at that time, the warm season grasses may not be fully emerged yet.
For that matter, this doesn't apply to just grasses. Broadleaf weeds also have a time frame when each variety is prime for spraying. Too early, and they haven't emerged and too late they've already matured.
 
I use Cleth in my daylily gardens regularly and noted that it is very slow to work. It does work though so just spray as recommended onto grass (actively growing and the younger the better) and be prepared to wonder if it is working. Cleth works good for us in controlling grass but it does take its time before we see the results.

Still for new beds that are not yet planted I would spray the grass with Gly--its quicker and will take out broad leafs that have sprouted as well.
 
Chainsaw,
How long does it generally take before you see the effects of Cleth? I have never used it. The only chemical I have ever used is glyphosate.
 
Rickey, It varies depending on the height of the grass but my best memory is 3 to 4 weeks. Then about when it seems it has not worked the grass just quietly shrinks up and is gone. Gly of course shows itself well in a week or even less depending on the plants being sprayed. Some with Gly show signs in a day or two.
 
With gly I generally start seeing results in a few days though it takes a couple weeks to knock out my grasses. I have been curious of cleth simply because it gets mentioned so much here. I may to give it a try sometime if I get the right situation.
 
In perfect conditions I will see grass starting to yellow at 2 weeks. When it starts getting early summer then the 3 to 4 weeks is what I see also.

BD1, if the grass is actively growing then you can spray. It all just depends on if it is a cool season grass or warm season. I like to spray my clover plots mid spring after a nice rain where there will.be a couple sunny warm days after the rain.
 
I spray clover fields for grass all of the time. I typically Poast (sethoxydim). In fact I just did it this past weekend. I do it this time of year to knock back all the food plot oats because they grow like crazy this time of year and they out-compete the clover. They also get too tall and keep turkeys out of the fields.
 
I ended up spreading the clover seed and spraying cleth right afterwards. The grass I'm going after is an area that I cleared trees around the edge of a 16th acre plot that expanded it to about an 1/8th of an acre. The old part already had clover growing which is why I didn't want to use anything but a grass killer. Need some rain now.
 
Back
Top