Clover a good mini plot?

[codman]

Hey everyone been a while since ive posted, but last weekend i cleared out my small plot area around my stand its about a 25 x 35yard plot. In my recent whitetail institute magazine an article said that clover was one of the best success plants. Im kinda inbetween there noplow and the clover i like the clover idea as it is perennial so it will come back. I used the Throw N Grow stuff last year and all that everycame up was rye grass and nothing else. This is i defenitely prepped the sight better as i took and scraped the ground clean and pretty much bulldozed it clean on debris and leaves. I then sprayed it with some roundup to breakdown and small roots and remaining plants.

Pics to follow when i go back out to check it out.

[AaronS]

For a small plot like that, I don't think you can beat clover. Neither does Lee and Tiffany Lakosky. I listened to their question and answer session at the QDMA convention last weekend and Lee said clover was their best producer for killing big bucks.

[wtnhunt]

Plot that size in clover should be just fine, that should work out to be roughly between a 5th and a 6th of an acre. We have had great results with small clover plots here with wintergrazer rye added to the mix. The wintergrazer is a rye grain rather than a rye grass and the stuff draws deer like a magnet. Be sure to lime and fertilize the plot according to your soil test requirements for best results.

[dogdoc]

you probably planted the throw and grow too thick and ryegrass out competed the brassicas and clover in the mix.

One option would be to plant a mix of clover and oats. The oats pop up real quick but will die at the first freeze, by then the clover should be starting to come on good. In my experience you don't get a lot of forage with clover the first season it is planted. It is slow to get established. When planted in the fall you really don't start getting good forage until the following spring. That is why i like to start a clover plot with a nurse plant such as oats, wheat, or like William said rye.

good luck---but you are correct--clover makes a great plant for a small killing plot.

todd

[codman]

Ok thanks everyone thats what i want to hear, Now if i were to do the winter rye mix how much like a ratio of rye to clover should i do. I also forgot to mention its a filtered sunlinght area. I greatly appreciate everybody's input , one other thing i use one of those Scotts hand seed spreader at what number or amount of seed should i disperse?

Thank you

Dan

[wtnhunt]

Ok thanks everyone thats what i want to hear, Now if i were to do the winter rye mix how much like a ratio of rye to clover should i do. I also forgot to mention its a filtered sunlinght area. I greatly appreciate everybody's input , one other thing i use one of those Scotts hand seed spreader at what number or amount of seed should i disperse?

Thank you

Dan

Not sure the number for your seeder, but those clover seeds are small. I usually start the seeder just barely open and wind it out little by little until I get the coverage I want.

Rye grain is pretty shade tolerant. Your grain seeds will be larger than the clover, for a 1/4 acre we use roughly 2-2.5 lbs of clover seed and about 10 lbs of grain seed.

[AaronS]

William gave you some good numbers. Clover is usually 8 to 10 lbs per acre, and I usually plant winter rye (grain) with it as a nurse crop at 50 to 100 lbs per acre. Unlike oats, the rye will grow throughout the winter, providing green forage for the deer until your clover takes off the following spring. The next year, you can either mow the rye, or just let it go and it will die off around June or July, providing shade for the clover and bedding/nesting cover.

Here are a couple pics of a plot where I planted that combo last fall.

[AaronS]

Forgot to mention, as William eluded to in his post, the seeds are very different in size. You will need to sew them separately in your spreader (don't mix them) because you'll need to have the gate set at different openings for them both.

[codman]

Did a PH test today on my plot soil and its a 6.0 i put a generic Plotspike Fertilizer on it . Im hoping to plant this coming weekend still need to find winter rye.

[AaronS]

Updated pics of the clover and rye. The clover is about 18" tall right now.

[codman]

Bought 10lbs of winter rye today at the local ag store. One question is how thick should i broadcast the seeds for rye and clover . Should i just do 1 pass or 2 at walking pace?

[AaronS]

First, calculate how big the area is that you'll be planting. One acre = 43560 square feet (roughly a square that is 208 feet by 208 feet). Once you know how big the area is, calculate your desired seeding rate. If you want to sew 100 lbs of rye per acre, and your area is 1/4 acre, then make as many passes as it takes to sew 25 lbs of seed. Same for the clover.

[AaronS]

I just went back to your first post and saw your dimensions. If the 25 yards by 35 yards is accurate, that equates to 7875 square feet, or .18 acre. So, your 10 lbs or rye equates to roughly 50 lbs of rye per acre. That's a good density when sewing as a nurse/cover crop with clover. For your plot, you probably only need 2 lbs of clover seed.

Again, adjust the gate on your spreader and start walking. It's hit and miss for all of us at first. We open it part way and if there's seed left over after we've covered the plot, we readjust the gate in hopes of covering the plot again until our seed runs out.

[hunter109]

we plant clover for our hey around here in ohio we like to put it on a little thick so if some dies there will be more up in its place i ant got any pics because we already mowed it for hay it ant up that high right now well we plant red top clove though idk what kind you are planting