# Too late to plant clover?



## Pinefarm (Sep 19, 2000)

My one field has tested out at a good ph for clover. I was going to plant in August. But we just plowed last years rye under and the field looks really good. I was thinking about planting a mix that I can buy from a wholesaler and planting in the next few days. The mix has clovers, chicory and brassicas in it. Is it too late to plant this or wait until August?


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## east bay ed (Dec 18, 2002)

i talked to the seed store today and he said in my area we have up to the middle of june for clover. i am a little north of you, but not much. you should be ok for the next week or two anyway.


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## Pinefarm (Sep 19, 2000)

Sounds good. Thanks!


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## orion (Apr 8, 2002)

You will get better results if you plant in august. The Brassicas will get to "stemy" for fall hunting plots if its planted now. Plant it back to rye and run it down in late July. I think you will be happier if you do it this way.


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

Bob

No you're not too late, but get it done quickly. The good side of the mix you mentioned is the clover and chicory. This will be good for this fall if you get timely rain this summer. It all depends on the type of brassicas in the mix whether they will hit it very much pre-frost.

Late summer DE rape has worked extremely well for me where the spring planting was hardly utilized. The clover and chicory will not be of much use this fall if planted in late summer. But it will be great next spring. Each has a plus side and a minus side.

If you decide on a late summer planting of this mix, get something else planted real soon. Peas, beans or buckwheat have good protein and grow fast when the deer population is on the low side. Plow it under late summer and plant again. The legumes in the green manure will give your soil a nitrogen boost for the brassicas in the mix.

The biggest mistake you can make is doing nothing. Get the deer used to feeding on your land. It does take a while for the deer in your area to find your plots and to call your land home. It may take a generation or two. But when this finally happens you'll find you can't plant enough. Which is a great problem to have, which does and how many to shoot.


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## Pinefarm (Sep 19, 2000)

I'm going to make it a go, only because I'm mainly interested in the clover for this Fall. But here's another question, what exactly is chicory and do the deer like it?


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## Swamp Ghost (Feb 5, 2003)

http://www.tecomate.com/DetailedInfo.cfm?Product_ID=45

Chicory is fast becoming one of the foremost wildlife plants in the nation. And, no wonder! This super forb is fast-growing, versatile, produces tons of forage, has a low planting rate, is unsurpassed in preference and nutrition, not vulnerable to early grazing damage, produces throughout most of the year  and its a perennial lasting 3 to 5 years! Since chicory produces throughout much of the year, it is capable of providing tons of high-protein, high-palatability nutrition from the critical early spring through the warm-season antler-growing/fawning time and right on through the high-demand rut and winter stress time. Deer absolutely love this stuff, making it excellent for fall hunting plots. Besides being a fantastic standalone cultivar, chicory is ideal for blending with all kinds of other seeds, especially legumes, and turns ordinary plantings into something special. Chicory is amazingly versatile and produces well throughout the country. Chicory is a great choice for large or small plots and can be successfully planted alone or in combination with other forages. 
SPECS 

Perennial 
Various Varieties of Forage Chicory 
Size  3-pound bag 
Coverage area  Plants 1 Acre 
Application  
Suitable Region - Nationwide 
Planting Time  In South (OK, AR, TN, NC & south), September-November. In North (KS, MO, KY, VA & north), April-July. In the middle America transition zone, fall or spring. Can frost-seed in colder climates. 
Planting Depth & Method  Broadcast or grain-drill about 1/8-inch deep. When broadcasting, cover seeds by either lightly dragging or cultipacking. 
HIGHLIGHTS 

Deer Love It 
Super High Protein 
Great Hunting Plot 
Nearly Year-Round Production 
Ideal For Blending With Other Seeds 
Produces For Years 
Low Planting Rate  High Production 
Provides Critical Antler-Growing/Fawning Nutrition 
Very Drought Resistant 

http://www.tecomate.com/DetailedInfo.cfm?Product_ID=45

I planted 2 acres of it, I already have 9 acres of IWC so I figured it would make a good companion plant. Ed Spin has described chicory complementing other food plots as a nice wine does a good meal!  It also has a deep tap root to protect it against lack of rain, so if your other legumes go dormant due to lack of rain your chicory will still be going strong.

It's fairly inexpensive, I used the Tecomate brand (La Nina chicory)3# - $24.99 plants an acre. 25#- 149.99 plants 8 acres


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

Bob

I think chicory would be concidered a herb. I would not call it prefered deer forage but it contains lots of minerals and yes deer do eat it. Most deer forage is used at one time or another throughout the year. Chicory just provides another item for the deer to eat.

I don't know of anyone who puts in pure stands of it to compare usage. It's usually just seeded in with another perennial seed mix. It looks kind of like dandilions and needs to be cut before it bolts (goes to seed). I did a yahoo and google search on it, there's alot of info out there.

I've seeded puna chicory in the past and tried frost seeding chicory by Tacomate this spring. Ed Spin does talk about its merits in his book.


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## Pinefarm (Sep 19, 2000)

Damn, does chicory bring your drink to you too? Ha,ha. It does everything! Sounds like a really good crop to mix with everything. I'll let you know what happens with it in another couple weeks. Thanks for the info.


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## Swamp Ghost (Feb 5, 2003)

Bob, I mixed 6# of the chicory with 3# of Monster mix, the plot is a little over 2 acres. I'll keep you posted on how the So. Mi deer like it, where your located anything is better than a fern! LOL!


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## Pinefarm (Sep 19, 2000)

Swamp Ghost, tell me about the ferns! Although, since we've been doing all of our cutting, select cuts and thinning, it seems like the ferns aren't nearly as bad as they used to be. Before we cut our pines, there was nothing BUT ferns. No wonder our bucks were 90 lbs with twisted up, broked, malformed 4 " spikes. Now, in area's that used to be all ferns, there aren't any ferns and it's all small pines, oak, beech and maple. Looks like the ferns don't like sunlight. Or since the forest floor is now getting good light, the ferns are being squeezed out by all the young trees. I'd say our club has only 50% of the ferns that we had 5 years ago.


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## Ed Spin (Mar 20, 2003)

Bob:

I can't think of a better blend than one that has clover, chicory and forage rape in it. Bob, check it out to see what type of clover. White clover and it's hybrid cousin ladino is the preferred type with medium red and alsike clover being OK as part of the blend. Stay away from the larger growing vaieties like Mammoth red clover. You are feeding deer not cows.

Forage rape should be in a mix with severasl varieties included. Dwarf essex rape is fine and deer like it but it is limited in its mineral extracting ability and should be planted in late summer (august first if planted alone) due to their bolting (flowering) tendency. 

Chicory is as good as the posts here indicate and planted alone (which I have done) does quite well with the deer visiting that plot a bit more than other single variety fields. Chicory is normally a perennial but there are annual types that deer like even better. This variety is not that available but expect it to be soon. I think Biologic clover plus includes it along with the perennial type.

Bob, there is no one single plant that will do the trick. The secret is variety and the bigger the variety the better. 

Deer need and demand a large variety of plants. My most attractant fields (besides can't beat soybeans) consists of sixteen differant plant types and or varieties. Bob, you can mix differant commercial blends together along with adding your own favorite seed from the local seed and feed store. 

About the soybean story, even there deer will move on to another field if the other fields have something decent growing. 

I would agree that mid june would be the latest planting date , but moisture is the driving factor and we are still getting plenty. 

for a less weedy field plant around the end of July through the first half of August with August first being your best target date. You should have planty of time for ample growth providing you are not planting in the UP. If so plant in mid July.

Keep the fun in hunting!


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## Pinefarm (Sep 19, 2000)

Ed,
The products I used were called pro-vide and pro-graze. I think they're from the same company that makes deer co-cain. They have mostly white clovers, a mix of rape and some chicory. I also mixed in a bit of ladino clover. Hopefully it works. The ph in that field is great, 7.3. Ed, if you get a chance, take a look at the post I'm going to put up called "bad report card". See if you can add help or suggest anything. I'll post it in a couple minutes.


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