Frost seeding clover

[Football Hunter]

When is the time to do it?Ive got some Ive been saving.

 

[deerchaser007]

I do mine in late feb or early march.

 

[BSK]

I do mine in late feb or early march.

Good answer. ;)

 

[TN Deer Slayer]

I have always in early March!
Seems to work out. :D


John

 

[Football Hunter]

what kind of rates do you put it down at?Ill be using l.andino/durana.I assume more than usual

 

[deerchaser007]

I assume you will be frost seeding into a established plot of durana clover you have allready planted. When did you plant it??
Overseeding is common with perennial clovers,. but with durana its real easy to go overboard cause of its growth. Durana's growth is much slower ,. this is because it takes much longer establishing a root system over any other ladino clover. In other words,.. you may not see top growth,.. but the rooting system is establishing. A good stand of durana will take at least 1 year to get fully established. Thats alittle slow for some folks liking,. but if it establishes,. the drought resistence is far superior over any of the other clover varieties.
With that said,.. if its a durana plot you have established,.. you might consider a frost seed of a different variety at 1/2 the seeding rate recommended. Give me a few more details of what you have going and i might be able to pinpoint what you need.

 

[Football Hunter]

Yes,Durana is what I have,with some Brassicas and oats mixed in.Strangely,at least to me ,the oats seemed to not do so good.All of this was plated in aug/sept.First year plots.I did no soil test,because these are just 4 wheeler accessable areas.I bought a ton and a half of pelletized lime and spread it evenly,to my best guess over the 5 ,1/2 acre or so plots in the summer.I guess now it may be taking some effect.Will do it again soon,although I am gonna get tests done to see where Im at.I have pretty good dirt,Real close to Buffalo river.My goal is to get the clover established ,and over seed oats/wheat in the fall.What other clover would you go with?

 

[deerchaser007]

Durana might not work well the way you are planning on using it. As i stated,. durana will establish a dense root system. This dense root system will not allow for other roots to establish,... thus the overseeding of grains is not recommended. You would be better off breaking the plots up. Establish 2 of the better plots(soil condition and sunlight) into nothing but perennial clover(durana) plots. If you want a mix in those perennials,.. mix the durana with chicory or red clover or a different ladino such as patriot or will. I love chicory,. and highly recommend everyone plant it.
In the other spots ,.. use the grains mixed with a annual clover(crimson or arrowleaf). In my experience,.. grains with annual clovers works better in smaller plots over grains with perennial clovers.

 

[Football Hunter]

will keep that in mind

 

[deerchaser007]

Can you frost seed chicory??

Yes!! Another thing i forgot to add,.. the old farmer trick works great for clover and chicory also,.. that is throw out the seed right before measurable snow. Of course,.. getting the snow is getting harder to come by these days. BUT,. if you can catch a feb or march snow,.. that works great.

 

[HOOK]

Don't expect much with frost seeding chicory around here...
Chicory seeding rate varies with seedbed condition. When seeding chicory alone, rates of 3 to 4 lb per acre is sufficient. However, the preferred method is drilling as for best results a depth of .25 to 1/2" deep is required. When seeding in mixtures, it is advantageous to include a legume because of its nitrogen fixing capability.
No herbicides are currently registered for use with chicory either during or after establishment. Therefore it is important to select fields with little weed pressure for chicory seeding. If weeds do become a problem during establishment, mowing can help suppress the weeds. If well established chicory regrows rapidly after mowing and can out-grow most weeds.