Alsike clover

[Maddog66]

A friend came across a free pallet of 25 (??) year old Alsike clover seed and gave me a couple of bags. I think they are 100# each. I’ve never seen seed in cloth bags before. I’m doing a germination test on it now, but a local farmer told me he figures it’ll be fine.

Anyway, alsike is said to be great for wetter areas even flooded for up to 6 weeks, so I’m going to give it a shot on a couple of my lower plot areas. I see it gets tall…..3 feet or better…..but might not be long lived.

Anybody have any thoughts on or experience with this clover for food plots and trails? I’m in Zone 3/4.

 

[Stubborn1VT]

Germination would depend on how it was stored.

I use alsike on wet/clay areas. It's one of the easier clovers to get established for me. Mostly I frost seed it and it overwinters fine where I am in zone 4/5. Doesn't mind poor soil. Fairly tolerant of low pH. It's one of my favorites.
Good luck!

 

[Maddog66]

It was in a very old barn, said to be dry, in zone 3

 

[homerj]

Ever seen deer browse alsike? I haven't

 

[Maddog66]

The owner of my local feed mill claims deer LOVE it, but I’ve never heard of it being a huge draw for deer, either.

 

[Newbie]

I planted about 4 acres of primarily clover, about half of it was alsike. I’ve been getting 30+ deer a night on it for 3 months straight. I know that’s entirely anecdotal, and I’m sure it depends on what dinner options are in your area, but it’s working for me this year.

 

[Maddog66]

Well I’ll be out of town a few days and will see what germination rate I get out of my test