Fall Clover

Buckeye

Active Member
Would it be ok to go ahead and plant clover this weekend. Forecast is showing rain Monday-Wednesday.
 
The clover plot in this picture taken a few days ago was planted 2 or 3 years ago in June. I did it because of the good rain forecast. We had a drought that fall, and if I had waited for the right time it would have been a failure.

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I know you want to do it now, but it would be in your best interest to wait. Id go ahead and till and keep weeds at bay. You may get rain for a day or 2, then be in a drought for a month. Clover is very slow to establish and you wont have any benefit from until next spring, so your gaining nothing right now. Get your weeds under control now. Because soon as you turn that dirt over, your going to release a seed bank that's been laying for years and will have all kinds of new growth. Till, spray the new growth with glyphosate in about 2 weeks. Get some lime down depending on your soil test if you even did one. Then seed and fertilize. Id throw some grains in to give the deer something this season. I like winter oats, some like wheat, but it will give the deer something this season and will act as a nurse crop while the clover establishes and will compete well with the new weeds that youll get. Good luck and keep us posted
 
I've done it every which way - lots of experiments and some worked well. We get 3-4" rain almost every month so in my neck of the woods - you could watch the weather forecast to plant clover almost any month. The biggest problem with spring/summer planting clover isn't the annual weeds, (you can control them with mowing fro the most part) - its the biennial weeds that look harmless year one - and then year two are dominate. The later in the summer you wait - the less of that type of weed gets established for "year 1". if you have land - resources and time - it pays to experiment - but if not a fall planting with a grain nurse crop is definitely the most reliable way to establish clover.
 
I planted crimson clover and oats this weekend. This was a new plot. My leaf blower wouldn’t start and I was pushed for time so I used my drag harrow to remove the leaf litter. It was back breaking work due to stopping every 10-15 feet and lifting the clogged drag and scooping up the leaves,

Rain is forecasted each of the next 10 days. If I get good germination I will be very happy. If we get into a drought, no worries either. It’s a small plot and at least I got it limed if it busts and I’ll just reseed in a few weeks
 
Tilled field? No, not now. Unless your area has decent traditional Aug rain. For my area, Aug has notoriously undependable for rain and it's often hot. Conditions that dry-out the top few inches that young clover roots need to be moist.
Throw and mow? Or spray and throw? You might have success seeding clover in July. Rooted and unbroken soil retains a lot more moisture than bare, tilled soil. With untilled soil, the little bit of shade that the the dead weeds or mulch provide can mean the difference between sprouts that stay alive until fall conditions and the difference of seeds that germinate because of a decent rain or 2, only to die because the Aug rain shuts off and it gets hot. Clover hates that.
Slope should be a consideration, too. If I tilled soil now, I know that I would lose top soil with just one heavy rain. Been there done that, way too many times! A heavy Aug thunderstorm, which is common here, washes away new seed and soil. What seed remains will germinate, but then the Aug drought and heat come and those clover seedling dry out and die.
TnM clover now, Okay. Tilled plot clover now? Not on my place.
 
Grandpa always said the best time to seed alfalfa is in a month that starts with "A", April and August. Weve had decent luck in April but were starting to prefer August
 
Looks good - I've planted too early - had all my brassica go to seed - wasn't real happy with the result, For us - colder weather puts everything on hold - if we get ahead of ourselves - plants do what they do and go to seed. Its GREAT with early planted corn and soybeans - but not so much with grains and brassica.

The year all my brassica went to seed - my dwarf essex rapeseed was preferred, the turnips got woody and hollow, the stalks were ignored

late July isn't early for us BTW - its about just right
 
Looks good - I've planted too early - had all my brassica go to seed - wasn't real happy with the result, For us - colder weather puts everything on hold - if we get ahead of ourselves - plants do what they do and go to seed. Its GREAT with early planted corn and soybeans - but not so much with grains and brassica.

The year all my brassica went to seed - my dwarf essex rapeseed was preferred, the turnips got woody and hollow, the stalks were ignored

late July isn't early for us BTW - its about just right

It's also GREAT for clover and chicory to get an early start. My experience is that neither one can become unpalatable from age.

I've had many trail camera pictures of deer taking 18 inches out of the top of a flowering chicory plant that was over their heads. I've seen deer pull overgrown oats out of the ground by the roots, turn them in their mouths, and take the whole plant down, root and all.

As for brassicas. I plant nothing but radishes now. My deer don't eat turnips. An exception is one of my plots next to bedding they will eat turnips in that plot late in the year. Radishes are eaten at all locations, and those will be gone before they flower.

I get what everyone has said about planting too early. I would never have planted this without a great rain forecast. They were giving no less than 60% for 15 days straight except for one day which was 40%. I had been killing weeds for weeks and the ground was ready. The last time we had rain like this in July and August, we went into a severe drought in the fall. Years have a way of evening out. When you get good rain early, you might get bad rain later on (at the right time......). That is exactly what happened here two years ago. I have no way of knowing if it will happen again this year or not - but if it does happen - I will have good plots and people who wait will have dust.

Yes, I took a risk by planting early, but now we see that it was the right thing to do. But that's the way us Deplorable Rebels without a cause operate.....;)

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