Food Plots Summer Crimson Clover?

[BSK]

Anyone ever on purpose or accidentally planted Crimson Clover in late spring? I'm wondering what will happen to it over the summer.

Last year, when I broadcast my summer seed into standing dead, bloomed-out Crimson Clover, and then mowed, the Crimson did not germinate. It just laid there on the ground until I mowed in August. Then it germinated like crazy. However, this year it germinated as soon as I mowed it down on top of my summer seed. Not complaining as it adds a lot of food to my summer plots, but will it continue to grow in the heat of the summer? And if it does, will it bloom before mid-August? I plan on broadcasting some of my fall seed mid-August and then mowing down my summer crop on top of the fall seed. But if it looks like the Crimson might bloom before that, I may have to mow my summer crops early to prevent the Crimson from dying.

All of my plots look like this:

 

[Ski]

That's pretty cool. I've never had much luck with planting any clover in early summer, let alone crimson. I'm curious to see how it handles July and August. Keep us posted!

 

[tellico4x4]

One time I had Landino left over from frost seeding. For whatever reason I missed a couple of plots in Feb. Early May there was several days of rain in forecast & I rolled the dice. Both came up great and thrived for years, BUT it was one of those summers with ample rain too.

 

[Popcorn]

I planted in my corn last year after the corn was up. That was a total failure till fall after the corn was made then it was on like gang busters!

 

[eyeseeker]

I wonder why yours germinated and mine didn't? I mowed after the heads had turned brown and dried around the third week of May. I'm hoping for a repeat of last year and it comes on strong in the fall around the time I overseed wIth wheat

 

[DoubleRidge]

I dont have the answer? But that plot sure does look good and while its hot now, we've had some cool nights and timley rains...maybe thats why this year is different?

 

[BSK]

I wonder why yours germinated and mine didn't? I mowed after the heads had turned brown and dried around the third week of May. I'm hoping for a repeat of last year and it comes on strong in the fall around the time I overseed wIth wheat

I dont have the answer? But that plot sure does look good and while its hot now, we've had some cool nights and timley rains...maybe thats why this year is different?

To both posts, I'm assuming it germinated because of the amount of rain we got right after I mowed it. I think we got 5 inches of rain in the two weeks post mowing. That's the only difference I can think of. Timing between the two years was the same - mowing around May 20.

 

[eyeseeker]

Hmm I got the same rain as I'm only about 10-15 miles from you as the crow flies,I think. Maybe mine is a fail, but I had the same success last year and have been planning on working the crimson clover rotation into my more rocky plots where I struggle to grow much of anything else. Maybe I will be surprised and have another good volunteer stand this fall, but I'm not counting on it now.

 

[BSK]

Hmm I got the same rain as I'm only about 10-15 miles from you as the crow flies,I think. Maybe mine is a fail, but I had the same success last year and have been planning on working the crimson clover rotation into my more rocky plots where I struggle to grow much of anything else. Maybe I will be surprised and have another good volunteer stand this fall, but I'm not counting on it now.

Wish I knew exactly why it germinated this year after spring mowing, but it did not last year. Completely the opposite results from the same treatment one year to the next. Only difference in treatment was I sprayed the plots right after mowing this year. last year I did not because I thought everything looked dead in the plots, hence no reason to spray. Boy was I wrong! After mowing, the grasses and weeds absolutely took off. My mistake for sure, as my summer plots ended up more weed fields last year than food plots. So far this year, the spraying really helped. In fact, I missed a few spots with the spray, and those small sections are filling in with grasses pretty quick, so it's obvious how important it is to spray right after mowing.

 

[tellico4x4]

so it's obvious how important it is to spray right after mowing.

Is " right after" the same day? I've always tried to wait 2-3 days after mowing as thought the mowing put the weeds in shock for a while & they slowed down

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Not sure about longevity throughout the summer when planted late spring, but this year and last year, there was a substantial amount of crimson volunteering in the spring / early summer, and also in the fall. So much so last fall, and appears to be just the same growing pattern this year, that we are almost thinking about not planting any crimson in our blend this fall. We may just stick with rye, wheat and oats, and hope plenty crimson is coming in. We will see closer to planting time.

 

[BSK]

Is " right after" the same day? I've always tried to wait 2-3 days after mowing as thought the mowing put the weeds in shock for a while & they slowed down

I just don't want any chance for the seed I broadcast before mowing to have germinated, so I usually spray the day I mow or the day after.

 

[BSK]

Not sure about longevity throughout the summer when planted late spring, but this year and last year, there was a substantial amount of crimson volunteering in the spring / early summer, and also in the fall. So much so last fall, and appears to be just the same growing pattern this year, that we are almost thinking about not planting any crimson in our blend this fall. We may just stick with rye, wheat and oats, and hope plenty crimson is coming in. We will see closer to planting time.

I think that's the boat I will be in. I'll wait until just before fall planting to see the condition of the Crimson. If it's doing well, I'll just broadcast Buckwheat, mow, and then spray the Clethodim instead of Roundup to knock back the grasses. Sometime in late September, I'll broadcast wheat into the standing crop.

 

[deerhunter10]

I was always under the assumption that crimson dies out or go dormant in the summer. We never have it in our hay fields or food plots after first cuts. I should say we have never seen a bloom during those months. A good problem to have we have but never ran across it. We are taking crimson out if our blend this year as said above to us it was to thick this spring.

 

[BSK]

I was always under the assumption that crimson dies out or go dormant in the summer. We never have it in our hay fields or food plots after first cuts. I should say we have never seen a bloom during those months. A good problem to have we have but never ran across it. We are taking crimson out if our blend this year as said above to us it was to thick this spring.

Ours did bloom and die. But after mowing the standing dead plants, the seed heads germinated. Not seen this in summer before.

 

[BSK]

Checked the plots today. Crimson is still going like gangbusters.

 

[BSK]

Crimson has struggled during the hot dry periods, but is still hanging in there. It "flushes" in growth every time we get a rain. And the deer are loving it!

 

[megalomaniac]

incredible resolution on those videos

 

[BSK]

incredible resolution on those videos

And people wonder why I'm so sold on Browning cams.

How do you like that sorghum? Deer have already wiped out most of the soybeans. Next year I'm planting them much heavier. Only went with 40#/acre this year. Going to go with 60#/acre next year. No worry over plant overcrowding as the deer eat the plants as fast as they can come up.

 

[BSK]

Now if I can just get the low-lying grass under control. At fall planting (mid-August), I'm going to go with a fairly heavy planting of Buckwheat, adding Crimson Clover only where necessary to keep the stand going, and then mow the standing summer crop down on the seed. After a week of regrowth, I'm going to hit the plots hard with Clethodim to hopefully knock back the grasses before they go to seed. Will broadcast wheat into the plots in late September.