Domino Clover

[Derek Reese 29]

Hello everyone,
Was wondering if anyone had any experience with Domino White Clover? From the description it’s supposed to be good in the cold. I picked up a bag and was going to try it either this spring (frost/overseeding to add to an existing clover plot started last fall) or next fall in a plot that has yet to be made in an existing hayfield. Thanks in advance!

 

[Tree Spud]

I'd say that based on the big buck on the bag it must be good!

I'd check with your local feed mill for what they recommend. You'll get something better suited for your area and 1/3 the price. I buy ladino clover and it does well in cold temps until really cold sets in.

 

[homerj1]

Never heard of it before. Looks like it's decent stuff https://goseed.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/domino_white_clover.pdf

 

[Derek Reese 29]

I'd say that based on the big buck on the bag it must be good!

I'd check with your local feed mill for what they recommend. You'll get something better suited for your area and 1/3 the price. I buy ladino clover and it does well in cold temps until really cold sets in.

I was looking for real dead of winter greens there..something to supplement the brassicas

 

[Tree Spud]

I was looking for real dead of winter greens there..something to supplement the brassicas

Don't know what dead of winter temps are for you. If you want something that will still stay green in freezing temps, go with winter rye & clover fall seeding. Great cold weather food source, combine with red or white clover and excellent spring green up food source and WR will provide good OM for your soil. WR will germinate as low as 32 F.

 

[yoderjac]

I may be in a warmer climate that you guys, but the only greens that grows when we get warm spells is winter rye. It will grow in colder temps than anything else around here.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

I don’t need it to grow in the cold per se as I am only in northern PA I just want it to stay green longer than some of the red clover I currently have in. Our lowest low temps are at the coldest 10 below and only for a night or two. I have winter wheat, winter rye in that plot now with 3 kinds of red clover and some aberlasting clover along with brassicas. I put a lot as I didn’t know what would grow well and it all did. At current, there is some snow cover and the stems of the brassicas and a few tips of the grains are the only things visible and they are getting hammered nightly.

 

[Nightvision]

Has anyone planted Durana clover up north? How does it do? Down here in the south, it is a very hardy clover as far as hot weather and I am curious how it does up borth

 

[yoderjac]

Has anyone planted Durana clover up north? How does it do? Down here in the south, it is a very hardy clover as far as hot weather and I am curious how it does up borth

The two characteristics I like about Durana is the persistence and drought resistance. I use to plant chicory with my ladino clover to provide food when it goes dormant in the summer. When I switched to durana, I found planting Chicory was not worth the cost. The durana was aggressive enough that the chicory only lasted a season or two and only in very dry years does durana go dormant and even then it is only for a few weeks in the summer.

I can't speak to the north, but I think any long-lived perennial clover will stay green in the cold season longer than medium red which is a short-lived perennial.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Tree Spud]

As conditions go to freezing or below, clover starts to go dormant. Only green available is remaining top growth. If you leave it to tall, frost can kill the entire plant.

 

[Nightvision]

The two characteristics I like about Durana is the persistence and drought resistance. I use to plant chicory with my ladino clover to provide food when it goes dormant in the summer. When I switched to durana, I found planting Chicory was not worth the cost. The durana was aggressive enough that the chicory only lasted a season or two and only in very dry years does durana go dormant and even then it is only for a few weeks in the summer.

I can't speak to the north, but I think any long-lived perennial clover will stay green in the cold season longer than medium red which is a short-lived perennial.

Thanks,

Jack

Durana is the toughest clover out there. Not saying it’s the best all around but for sheer tenacity in hot and dry climates there’s not another one that’s any better.

If I were to ever move up north, it would be the first clover I tried. I think it would do well but have no idea how extreme cold would affect it.

 

[BrushyPines]

Also in the deep south and Durana does best for me from Oct. to about Julyish, depending on how hot and dry it gets. From July to Sept., it is non-existent. I actually thought it died this past summer, but it bounced back really well once temps started dropping. My soil is very sandy with a PH of 5.5, so I'm thinking that affects it and makes it disappear during the summer months unlike Yoder's stand not ever going dormant.

 

[yoderjac]

Also in the deep south and Durana does best for me from Oct. to about Julyish, depending on how hot and dry it gets. From July to Sept., it is non-existent. I actually thought it died this past summer, but it bounced back really well once temps started dropping. My soil is very sandy with a PH of 5.5, so I'm thinking that affects it and makes it disappear during the summer months unlike Yoder's stand not ever going dormant.

The difference is location. I'm in zone 7a, not the deep south. I would expect all clover to go dormant for some period down there.

 

[Nightvision]

Also in the deep south and Durana does best for me from Oct. to about Julyish, depending on how hot and dry it gets. From July to Sept., it is non-existent. I actually thought it died this past summer, but it bounced back really well once temps started dropping. My soil is very sandy with a PH of 5.5, so I'm thinking that affects it and makes it disappear during the summer months unlike Yoder's stand not ever going dormant.

The first time my Durana did that I just knew it was toast. As soon as the fall rains came, BOOM, the Durana bounced back. Pretty amazing imo that it can survive what some of our summers can dish out.

When it happens, it’s a great time to work on the grass and weeds that may be in your clover.

It’s also why we can drill grains into our plots in the fall. The Durana is not too thick. Jack thought I was crazy because his clover never gets thin enough.

 

[BrushyPines]

The first time my Durana did that I just knew it was toast. As soon as the fall rains came, BOOM, the Durana bounced back. Pretty amazing imo that it can survive what some of our summers can dish out.

When it happens, it’s a great time to work on the grass and weeds that may be in your clover.

It’s also why we can drill grains into our plots in the fall. The Durana is not too thick. Jack thought I was crazy because his clover never gets thin enough.

I have a dog fennel problem in mine. Once the durana went dormant, I spot sprayed every dog fennel in the plot and sure enough the durana bounced back well once temps dropped. Thank God for blue dye or I wouldnt know what was sprayed and what wasn't. Hoping the spot spray kicks the dog fennel back this summer.

 

[yoderjac]

The first time my Durana did that I just knew it was toast. As soon as the fall rains came, BOOM, the Durana bounced back. Pretty amazing imo that it can survive what some of our summers can dish out.

When it happens, it’s a great time to work on the grass and weeds that may be in your clover.

It’s also why we can drill grains into our plots in the fall. The Durana is not too thick. Jack thought I was crazy because his clover never gets thin enough.

Yes, the only way for me to drill into durana is by suppressing it. In an old weedy field, 1 qt/ac gly will suppress it so I can dril. I can also mow it flat with a bushhog and drill. Both methods work. I have zero success drilling into it without suppression.

 

[Nightvision]

Yes, the only way for me to drill into durana is by suppressing it. In an old weedy field, 1 qt/ac gly will suppress it so I can dril. I can also mow it flat with a bushhog and drill. Both methods work. I have zero success drilling into it without suppression.

If I were to show you a pic of my Durana in August and then late October you would not think it’s the same plot.

 

[yoderjac]

If I were to show you a pic of my Durana in August and then late October you would not think it’s the same plot.

Same here. That's because I don't mow and let my summer weeds abound. They help shade the durana. You have to get in the plot to see the durana underneath. I mow before the season when cool nights and fall rains favor the durana and it dominates the field again.