Annual clover with brassicas?

[Troubles Trees]

then just pick at them like a stubborn toddler at the table with a plate of broccoli!

Your analogies always put a smile on my face bud!

 

[tbarile]

You could do the same with planting clover in the spring, or frost seeding. Then your stand could be thicker contributing more N as well. Your place, either works!

yeah, I'll go back to that if this doesn't work well. I was just hoping to kill 2 birds with one stone.

 

[BenA]

I've never planted crimson farther north than Kentucky, but I like the stuff. It's one of the first things to green up in the spring making it a great place to find sheds.

 

[tbarile]

I did not find it necessary to reduce the brassica rate as the clovers were a non-issue during the brassica growing season. If you looked at my brassica plots last year you would never have known that there were any clovers included with them. It wasn't until this spring that the clovers came on strong.

These are the same brassica plots pictured above with the clovers in them. This is what they looked like last August. If they are a bit crowed it wasn't because of the clovers I planted with them. Can you see any clovers in these plots?

These photos were taken the day I broadcasted the rye into the brassicas - late August.

View attachment 36344

View attachment 36345

View attachment 36346

View attachment 36347

Damn!!! That's exactly what I'm looking to accomplish but I have to use spray/throw/roll method. Assuming I get good results this fall/spring I will switch to Med Red instead of a perennial. Did you spray your clover before drilling your new plot? What rate did you broadcast WR?

Thanks

 

[j-bird]

Your analogies always put a smile on my face bud!

You know what I am talking about and that is all that matters....

 

[TenPoint]

Yep - That is always what I was told as well. But guess what? I went ahead and tried planting it along with my brassicas last year and look what I had this spring...

View attachment 36330

View attachment 36331

I am in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan - Latitude 45N - Zone 4b and the Crimson Clover over-wintered just fine. I couldn't even find the seed around here so I ordered it from Welters.

Here is what I planted for my 2020 brassica plots:

Land Pride 606NT No-Till Drill

Brassicas 2020 - Drilled July 9th

Large Box:
GH Forage Radish 6#/acre

Small Box:
Purple Top Turnips 1#/acre
Barkant Turnips 1#acre
Appin Forage Turnips 1#/acre
Kestrel Kale 2#/acre
Crimson Clover 2#/acre
Medium Red Clover 2#/acre

Total 9#/acre + Radish = 15#/acre

Large Box Settings for GH Radish:
Drive 2 (Calibrate using Drive 1 next time)
Seed Cup 1 (closed)
Seed Rate - 1 = 6#/acre

Small Box Setting - 43 = 9#/acre

About a month after drilling the brassica/clover mix I broadcasted rye over top of the brassica plants.

The clovers and rye did nothing to detract from the brassicas. The brassicas canopied and the deer devoured them as per usual. The difference is that when I planted stand-alone brassicas before in previous years, there was nothing but bare dirt in those plots in the spring. Here is what my brassica plots looked like this spring when clovers and rye were included in the brassica planting:

Lots of great deer forage...

View attachment 36332

My soil is covered with a diversity of living roots creating healthy soil conditions...

View attachment 36333

View attachment 36334

View attachment 36335

Did I mention that the deer have been enjoying those clovers all spring and summer?

View attachment 36336

This is what last year's brassica plots looked like last week when I drilled my fall cover crop into them...

View attachment 36337

View attachment 36338

View attachment 36339

Guess what? I included 2# each of Crimson and Medium Red Clovers in my brassica plantings this year as well.

Have you ever frost seeded crimson clover? I frost seeded a bunch of med red this spring after a fall brassica/oats/maybe a little clover and had the thickest clover I've ever had all summer. Couldn't cut it with our 54" mmm. Had to use the rear rotary cutter. I might have to try crimson next year (plots are basically done at this point for this year). The price is right and I'm just looking to fill the summer gap the following year w/ the cheapest clover I can find.

 

[Wild Thing]

Damn!!! That's exactly what I'm looking to accomplish but I have to use spray/throw/roll method. Assuming I get good results this fall/spring I will switch to Med Red instead of a perennial. Did you spray your clover before drilling your new plot? What rate did you broadcast WR?

Thanks

Your Throw N Mow method will work also - you just need to up the rate from those of us who are drilling our seed.

I did not spray before drilling my fall cover crop TBarile. I considered it but decided to just go ahead and plant. The annual weeds are at tails end and my cover crop will come in thick enough without spraying. I will likely spray before drilling brassicas in these plots next July.

I don't really measure the rate when broadcasting rye but I do apply it fairly heavy - probably close to 100#/acre. I don't get much rye into the middle of the brassica plots because I don't want to walk on the young plants. I will broadcast the seed from my Earthway Ev-N-Spred as far as I can get it to go from the edges of the brassica plots.

 

[Wild Thing]

Have you ever frost seeded crimson clover? I frost seeded a bunch of med red this spring after a fall brassica/oats/maybe a little clover and had the thickest clover I've ever had all summer. Couldn't cut it with our 54" mmm. Had to use the rear rotary cutter. I might have to try crimson next year (plots are basically done at this point for this year). The price is right and I'm just looking to fill the summer gap the following year w/ the cheapest clover I can find.

I have never frost seeded Crimson Clover Ten Point - last year was the first time I ever planted it and I drilled it. I also drilled it last week in my fall cover crop mixture.

That being said, I have frost seeded tons of perennial clovers over the years. I prefer to plant a blend of several different varieties of clovers. I always "Roll my Own". I always include Medium Red and then mix in 2-4 other varieties of white clovers. The next time I mix some up I will also include Crimson - I like the stuff.

 

[TenPoint]

I have never frost seeded Crimson Clover Ten Point - last year was the first time I ever planted it and I drilled it. I also drilled it last week in my fall cover crop mixture.

That being said, I have frost seeded tons of perennial clovers over the years. I prefer to plant a blend of several different varieties of clovers. I always "Roll my Own". I always include Medium Red and then mix in 2-4 other varieties of white clovers. The next time I mix some up I will also include Crimson - I like the stuff.

View attachment 36356

View attachment 36358

View attachment 36357

I’ve got one bag of buck forage oats left to plant either this weekend or next. I might just order 5 lbs of crimson from Welter and try it for the heck of it. It’ll get tilled then broadcast. No drill here. Then I drag to cover the big seed. Has worked great so far. But my throw and drag plots are doing just as good. We’ve had plenty of rain the last month luckily.

 

[yoderjac]

Have you ever frost seeded crimson clover? I frost seeded a bunch of med red this spring after a fall brassica/oats/maybe a little clover and had the thickest clover I've ever had all summer. Couldn't cut it with our 54" mmm. Had to use the rear rotary cutter. I might have to try crimson next year (plots are basically done at this point for this year). The price is right and I'm just looking to fill the summer gap the following year w/ the cheapest clover I can find.

Crimson does not frost seed well. Medium Red is a better choice for frost seeding.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

The clovers and rye did nothing to detract from the brassicas. The brassicas canopied and the deer devoured them as per usual. The difference is that when I planted stand-alone brassicas before in previous years, there was nothing but bare dirt in those plots in the spring. Here is what my brassica plots looked like this spring when clovers and rye were included in the brassica planting:

Lots of great deer forage..

Thanks for this info. We'll plant rye and clover in with our brassicas now too. As you said - pure brassicas give you bare dirt in the spring. ( We've had that bare dirt scene. ) We'll fix THAT!!