ousoonerfan22 Posted August 16, 2006 Report Share Posted August 16, 2006 Have you guys ever mixed alfalfa with your clover plots? I have some tecomate monster mix that I will be planting and I'm thinking about mixing 3-4 lbs of alfalfa seed with it. By the way we had 1 3/8" of rain the other night and yesterday I disked the plots behind my parents house.They are in good shape now and ready for planting if we could get rid of these 100 degree temps. My brother-in-law's property in Coweta didn't get any rain and that plot is still hard as a rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdoc Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 Re: alfalfa? yes--I have mixed alfalfa with clover with good success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ousoonerfan22 Posted August 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 Re: alfalfa? One of the guys at the local feed store was talking like I would be wasting my time and money on alfalfa because it is hard to grow and usually needs to be sprayed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 Re: alfalfa? Have not ever mixed it with clovers, but have planted some alfalfa here. Used some alfalfa seed from rural king, and was not at all pleased with the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bownarow Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 Re: alfalfa? Alfalfa is very stemmy, and is not digested very well by whitetails. You would be better off sticking with a whitetail specific clover (IMO). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 Re: alfalfa? Trefoil is a really good alfalfa substitute. Hamannfarms has a couple good trefoil blends, you could pm Oneida man if you are interested in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gitcha_some Posted August 18, 2006 Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: alfalfa? tecomate actually makes a mix of clover, alfalfa, and chicory...in case u wanna buy that instead of mixing diffrent seeds, its called alfa-feast. im trying it this year actually Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ousoonerfan22 Posted August 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Re: alfalfa? I seen it but I had already bought two bags of the monster mix plus Stillwater Milling has alfalfa seed for $2.10 a pound.Today I bought 5 lbs to try with this monster mix to see if it will grow well in this plot or not. I also bought a bag of the Buck Forage oats and a small bag of purple top turnip seed. I had already bought a 50 lb seed mixture of ryegrain,bob oats and peas from Stillwater milling for only $12.95,I hope it does well. I plan on a 1 acre plot of monster mix/alfalfa where I had oats/wheat last fall then about a 100 yards away plant the buck forage oats next to the ryegrain/pea mixture.There is a small opening in the timber that I want to plant some Tecomate standside.I don't know if I will add the turnip seed here or next to the clover. Now if we can get some rain and cooler temps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdoc Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Re: alfalfa? i will tell you one advantage. The only thing alive right now on my perennial plots is the alfalfa. All the clover and trefoil and have died from the severe drought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest anderson3 Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Re: alfalfa? Alfalfa is very good deer feed. The coarse stems are not readily eaten by deer, but the leaves and tender parts are certainly well-digested. The characteristics of the 'stemminess' depends on the particular variety. Unfortunately, a lot of old fashioned 'Vernal' alfalfa seems to make its way into food plot mixes. Alfalfa does have drawbacks such as insect damage, won't tolerate wet or acid soils, etc. As dogdoc said, it will continue to do fairly well in hot/dry conditions long after cool season clovers have gone dormant. So it can add all-important diversity to a food plot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MKMGOBL Posted August 21, 2006 Report Share Posted August 21, 2006 Re: alfalfa? Alfalfa is about as good as it gets for attracting deer. Difficult to grow when compared to clover, but worth the risk if you are just adding a few pounds into a mixture. It won't cost much more, and may take off well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cowpoke Posted August 21, 2006 Report Share Posted August 21, 2006 Re: alfalfa? Ok, Lets consider a few things here. Alfalfa, in order to last in a location for a long time needs a higher soil pH, 6.8 to 7.0 is about perfect for it. Clovers on the other hand are happy at around 6.5, maybe a little less, but will do OK at higher pH, up to around the same as alfalfa without any problems. As was mentioned above alfalfa also does not tolerate wet locations nearly as much as the clovers will. A few other things you probably want to know about alfalfa, if we are talking about a long term stand... alfalfa weevil and potato leafhoppers are two insect pests that can cause a lot of problems for an alfalfa stand. Those are some of the reasons why alfalfa does not do very well in some locations, where the clover has a better chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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