The Sweet Clover Thread

I checked over the plot again this weekend. I’ve got some stunting going on with my forage barley out in the main plot. The only reason I know that is because I have a spot where I hauled in topsoil to fill a hole. The hole area has 16” barley ready to start pushing a seed head. The rest isn’t 9” I bet, and no heads showing.

I think it’s just too thick between the balansa and chicory. Any open pockets between all of that has lots of grain and flax. The flax is doing great though. Very tall, and good subsoiler.


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Is the balansa spring planted? Last year fall planted? Or did it grow that much when you seeded this summer/fall?
 
Is the balansa spring planted? Last year fall planted? Or did it grow that much when you seeded this summer/fall?
I'm pretty sure I didn't broadcast any balansa this spring, so what's out there had to have come back from last year. It just dawned on me... The one thing I did different this time was I had a clean slate when I planted and I left the topsoil in place. I sprayed and had the plot roto-tilled in July of 2022. Whenever else I've planted balansa, it was always after a construction project, and it had to go in six inches to three feet of dead clay. This plot actually has about 4" of topsoil before you get down to concrete.

I've got one more patch of new ground to fix next year that will get a total installation of a perennial plot. I'm considering dropping the sweet clover and just going with:

Rye
Balansa
Alfalfa
Chicory
Plantain
Black eyed susan
Purple coneflower
Ragweed

And then a mix of annuals to go along with it. But that would be the durable portion of the blend. And then from there just add rye and barley and mow it down. That first week of August seems to be the sweet spot for timing the mow in my area.
 
Lick Creek had some damn good combinations in his mixes.
 
I just read an article in a bee journal and learned.....

......1) North Dakota is a top honey producer in the nation 2) the majority of registered beekeepers are commercial 3) the reason is all the sweet clover

Time for SD to join the party


bill
 
I just read an article in a bee journal and learned.....

......1) North Dakota is a top honey producer in the nation 2) the majority of registered beekeepers are commercial 3) the reason is all the sweet clover

Time for SD to join the party


bill

Oh man, I don’t know. I’m still working on building garden beds and perennial fruit production.


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Year #3 of this experiment is here. Did I get volunteer YSC seed? Was my rye viable at mow time? Will the chicory endure for another season? Will I spend all summer hand pulling hairy vetch out of this plot?

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The distribution looks really good. I’m wanting to see lots of rye, I want to see the chicory at least every foot or two, I want to see pockets of clover in all of it, and duff to keep the surface cool.

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I’m very pleased with this so far. I have achieved getting rye to come up in an established clover plot via throw and mow. I may finally have a fighting chance of defeating the need to drill. The duff distribution still has some figuring needed.

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The dead stalks here are chicory. I’ve never seen such a stand of chicory like I had out here.

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I drilled lots of sweet clover last fall with my winter rye(late August) and a few lbs of white clover and some red clover too. Was a bit disappointed in some areas.....as the clover there is looking pretty sparse. I do need to spend more time just looking at what I got thru the various plots.....but at first glance the rye looks fine.....and the clovers are weak. Maybe it's a bit early to see anything new?

Got a question tho....regarding Imox. I have a plot that has nice rye, and I see some weeds coming too. Can I use Imox over clover and the Winter Rye.....or will Imox smoke that rye? tempImageOuzp1r.jpg
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Imox will smoke the rye

It’s my understanding sweet clover is a biennial, so you won’t see it at peak until year two.
 
I drilled lots of sweet clover last fall with my winter rye(late August) and a few lbs of white clover and some red clover too. Was a bit disappointed in some areas.....as the clover there is looking pretty sparse. I do need to spend more time just looking at what I got thru the various plots.....but at first glance the rye looks fine.....and the clovers are weak. Maybe it's a bit early to see anything new?

Got a question tho....regarding Imox. I have a plot that has nice rye, and I see some weeds coming too. Can I use Imox over clover and the Winter Rye.....or will Imox smoke that rye? View attachment 64481
View attachment 64480

Yeah, hang tight on the sweet clover. Your rye is gonna fly past the sweet clover, and then the sweet clover is gonna fly past the rye. I thought the sweet clover was a total fail, and then by the time I mowed, it swallowed the rye. And I thought that was quite the feat.


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SD I'm curious as you say the rye will fly past the ysc and then the ysc will fly past the 42 inch rye??? Please explain. I was up last weekend and saw the 6 inch rye in my fields. Will it be ready to crimp over 4th of July
 
SD I'm curious as you say the rye will fly past the ysc and then the ysc will fly past the 42 inch rye??? Please explain. I was up last weekend and saw the 6 inch rye in my fields. Will it be ready to crimp over 4th of July
It's just the timing of when they surge in height and biomass. The rye surges first in my area around the last week or May/first week of June. This is my June 12th picture and the rye is the majority of the picture with some sweet clover showing.

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This is the July 2nd picture of the same plot. The sweet clover caught up in height and biomass and flew past the rye. By the time I mowed, it was I bet 80% sweet clover residue and 20% rye residue. The sweet clover residue was coarse, wet, and heavy. The rye straw was fluffy and chopped very easily.

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SD I'm curious as you say the rye will fly past the ysc and then the ysc will fly past the 42 inch rye??? Please explain. I was up last weekend and saw the 6 inch rye in my fields. Will it be ready to crimp over 4th of July
I'm not sure on crimp timing for ya. It is supposed to be ready when you see the big pollen grains hanging off the seed heads like this. @Foggy47 could chime in on this too. I know he had it figured out.

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tempImaget9wvFn.pngtempImagePs0TG3.pngtempImagezPA4J2.pngtempImagecLaGiK.pngSpent a few hours at my land on Saturday and did a closer inspection of my plots. I could not identify any sweet clover plants resulting from my planting in late August. Not sure what to think......and not sure what the new seedlings would look like? I do have some regular (red and white) clovers that are establishing......so there is that. Shown below are (1) my best areas (2) worst areas (3) Dandelion crop (4) lots of moles. My best rye is about a foot high now.....and lots of tillering is taking place.
 
^^^was your sweet clover seed scarified?
 
^^^was your sweet clover seed scarified?
Not that I am aware of. Bought my seed from Welters.....didn't know it required scarifying.
 
@Foggy47 , what are these plants in the black box? Maybe that is SC? Also looks like it might be catchfly.

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^^^not sweet clover
 
@Foggy47 , what are these plants in the black box? Maybe that is SC? Also looks like it might be catchfly.

View attachment 64649
That is why I took this pic. Not sure what those plants are. Were getting good rains again on Tuesday......and the ground has warmed up. I suppose if that YSC is gonna grow.....it will do so pretty soon.
 
Update on the big experiment.

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My rye is definitely being affected in this plot. I’ve got rye on other parts of my land that is much farther along. I don’t understand what is happening, but it certainly isn’t thriving with the clovers.

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The mix still looks good.

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And here comes the hell that is hairy vetch.

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I can’t identify any SC yet, or any specific clover at all. I’m hoping this is all balansa.

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