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Applying inoculant to clover?

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DeerSlayer

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Joined
Nov 9, 1999
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Location
Roane County, Tennessee
We are putting out the food plots this weekend, but I want to make sure we are doing this right.

We are using DeerChaser07's recipe:

Per ACRE:
-------------
50 lb winter wheat
15 lb crimson clover
5 lb arrowleaf clover
5 lb dwarf essex rape

We are doing about 3 acres worth.

What I don't know is how to inoculate the clover! I have never done this before. I have heard you can add Coca Cola to the seed and then apply the inoculant, but I don't know about that.

Won't it get so sticky that it won't come out of the seed spreader? We are using a pull-behind spreader. I assume we are going to have to make one pass with larger seeds and then do the smaller seeds last?

Any advice??? Thanks a ton!!

paul
 
Don't use Coke. It has acids in it that can kill the innoculant. Simply use a small amount of suger water (mix in as much suger as the water will disolve). Although it is recommended you spreap the seed out ofter innoculating to dry so it will go through your seed spreader, my seed spreader has an agitator, and if I don't put in too much sugar water, the seed will still spread just fine, even without drying.

A little bit of sugar water goes a long way. Use tiny amounts at a time and see how well you can mix it with the seed and innoculant.
 
Our spreader has the agitator also, so we will try that. I appreciate the advice. Thanks BSK!

I will have 60 total pounds of clover if I am adding that up right. Any idea about how much water and sugar would do that much?

Paul
 
Less than you would think. Maybe a quarter of a water glass. You don't need to get the seed wet, just slightly sticky. It doesn't take but a few drops of melted sugar to make your hands so sticky that everything sticks to them.
 
I know you already bought it, but I added inoculant to clover seed once, and it was so messy that I just buy pre-inoculated seed now. Just MHO.
 
BSK,.. apache arrowleaf comes preinoculated and coated. We got ours at copperseeds.com Also,.. this year the crimson seed WDS got for me was preinoculated and coated. It was contea crimson. Sometimes the co-op gets preinoculated yuchi also.

Deerslayer ,.. check to make sure the seed is not coated and preinoculated prior to doing it yourself. Look at it and make sure its raw seed and does not have a black look to it and especially has no color on it.
 
It also depends on whether you have planted that particular variety of clover before (innoculated). Eventually the soil will contain enough of the bacteria on its own.
 

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