What chicory varieties work best?

[yoderjac]

I have used the oasis from welter and it seems to do great and deer love it starting in late summer until late fall. It seems to compete well with clovers. Durana did well in WNC for a year or so and then we had warm wet summer (wet and rainy for several weeks) and mold seemed to take over the whole thing and it was gone. Durana is great in drought conditions but not in continuously wet times. "D"

Interesting D. I used it for a long time here and it thrives in our spring and fall rains. We generally don't have real wet weather in the summer but when we have a wetter than normal summer it doesn't go dormant at all. In very dry summers it goes dormant for only a couple weeks. I've never seen mold on it but I'm sure we have a different climate than you.

Anyone else have an issue with Durana when it is wet?

Thanks,

Jack

 

[gunfun13]

I tend to mix a lot of different varieties when planting plots. It's not uncommon for me to have 12+ different brassicas in a plot or 15+ perennial seeds mixed. That said my last perennial plot had 4 varieties of chicory; endure, oasis, and 2 varieties from a cabelas mix that I don't recall off the top of my head. Visual difference between them was very apparent, any preference towards one variety was not.

 

[Mortenson]

I have Oasis coming from Welter's. It'll be the first chicory on our farm. Hoping for the November draw if it can hold out that long.

 

[djw195]

I'm really interested to see more results on what varieties of chicory find best. My observations are like many others, chicory doesn't get hit much until a few freezes then it's mowed to the ground. I have a few plots that I'm really targeting for that late October window and chicory will be a big part of that strategy.

Based in the thread it seems like a wide selection of chicory is good, Ive planted WI fusion which I believe is mostly Wina chicory, seems to get hit well. I'm interested in forage feast and others, would like to get my plots to 60/40 clover/chicory by next yr. Any thoughts on chicory selection for those in southern WI?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I had good results with Oasis in south east minnesota.

 

[djw195]

I had good results with Oasis in south east minnesota.

Thanks for the tip. When did the deer seem to really hit the chicory in your area? Did you use any other chicory varieties?

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I didnt monitor usage to much. I can say though that I watched them from stand in October walk around a clover/chicory plot ignoring all the clover and eating every chicory leaf they could. I can also say that Gly doesn't kill the stuff either. In my TNM brassica plot last year the deer ate every bit of chicory they could find largely ignoring all the brassica that was in the plot.

I have also use VNS from Albert Lea Seed. They ate it but I think the Oasis was utilized a bit more.

 

[bbcoach]

Where are you guys located Jbird? Chicory wouldn't stand a chance with my Durana. It has almost choked out everything in three years. The stolons are so intertwined very little grass or weeds are making it through. If planting chicory and clover together I would recommend a 50/50 mix of chicory and Dutch white or a ladino.

 

[djw195]

I didnt monitor usage to much. I can say though that I watched them from stand in October walk around a clover/chicory plot ignoring all the clover and eating every chicory leaf they could. I can also say that Gly doesn't kill the stuff either. In my TNM brassica plot last year the deer ate every bit of chicory they could find largely ignoring all the brassica that was in the plot.

I have also use VNS from Albert Lea Seed. They ate it but I think the Oasis was utilized a bit more.

That's great info. Sometimes I'm not too sure which forages deer prefer over another in a big mix of plantings, they seem to demolish it regardless once the cold sets in October.

I'm looking to get some of my plots about 50/50 clover/chicory, my buck chances are highest around late October traditionally, I feel like chicory has very high attractiveness during that time period. It's also pretty durable during the summer, so it's definitely piqued my interest the last few yrs.