Chickory in a plot

DRG3

5 year old buck +
I’m considering trying chickory for the first time this year.
What’s good to mix with it? Clover or oats? I’m in western Ky- is august/sept a good time to plant and can I expect growth for this season?

What are the other traits pluses and minuses
 
I usually plant it in spring. I mix mine with clover blend, deer here don't eat it much until fall after a frost then they eat it to the ground. It is really good for the soil... deep rooted, only lasts a couple years for me here then disappears and I have to reseed. I don't mow so it may last longer if you do?
Bees love it too.
 
Northern Wi zone 3b so probably not helpful, but I’m planting the following mix in 4 acres - per acre. On Friday.

10# perennial clover(s)
2# Alfalfa
2# chicory
2# brassica(s)
50-70# WR/Oats (50/50)

Right or wrong, that’s how I’m going to try to establish my perennial plot for next year….and have attraction this fall.
 
Northern Wi zone 3b so probably not helpful, but I’m planting the following mix in 4 acres - per acre. On Friday.

10# perennial clover(s)
2# Alfalfa
2# chicory
2# brassica(s)
50-70# WR/Oats (50/50)

Right or wrong, that’s how I’m going to try to establish my perennial plot for next year….and have attraction this fall.

I will be planting chicory and red clover this weekend as well. It can take a couple weeks to germinate, so in 3b, you will want it in as early as possible.
 
I’m considering trying chickory for the first time this year.
What’s good to mix with it? Clover or oats? I’m in western Ky- is august/sept a good time to plant and can I expect growth for this season?

What are the other traits pluses and minuses
Clover. I used to mix it with ladino clover and it did vary well. It is kind of like insurance for the clover. If you get a drought, chicory performs well compared to ladino. Plant them in the fall with a winter rye nurse crop. Chicory is a great companion crop for common clovers like ladino.

I stopped planting it when I switched to Durana clvoer. Unlike common clovers like ladino, Durana doesn't go dormant unless we have a dry summer and when it does it is only a few weeks rather than a few months. In a few years, the Durana outcompeted my chicory anyway. Since value of the chicory was reduced with the shorter dormancy period of Durana and it did not last as long, I decided the cost of adding it was not worth the benefit.

However, with a common clover, chicory is a great companion crop!

Thanks,

Jack
 
My first frost averages sept 12, but it’s seldom a hard one……plus I’ve been living pretty clean lately (👍) and with a little good luck it’ll come late this year. Either way, fertilizer and seed is going in on Friday with good chances for rain on Sat/Sun/Tues.
 
A simple blend is chicory, white clover, and rye planted 60 days before frost. For me, I don't even see it in that first fall. It doesn't do much in the next full growing season, but the one after that is off the wall great. I know others that spring plant it and it does well too. Not sure what they put with it in spring. I'm biased towards planting everything in the late summer. It's just far easier to keep a lid on unintended plants.

Chicory is one of those that gets planted on every square foot of plot on my place.
 
I have done chicory and alfalfa in a few plots with a fall planting. Like others have said, it will germinate and just sit there the first fall and then be growing like a weed after that. I will be putting it in every perennial plot we plant now.
 
I haven;t fall planted, only frost seeded in feb, march. The clover/chicory stands have been great. I don't mow mine until August. They have produced seed by then and then reseed themselves. This year is looks like I grew nothing but chicory, the clover is there but is buried by the chicory. The deer have been eating the chicory since May. I watch them eating the stalk and leaves out my window on an almost daily basis.

With it's deep tap root, it seems to be withstanding the drought and temps we've been having.

I think you'll be fine with your fall planting but won't get a lot of attention until next year. If you let it seed out you will have a perpetual chicory plot. They will still eat it even it it matures.
 
Best food plot plant there is in my book.


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I planted chicory last summer for the first time, nothing grew, because of the drought. I just finished planting chicory, red clover and Icicle peas in 2 plots, for a total of about an acre and a half, I will probably add winter rye to them in a few weeks. My average first frost is mid September.
 
I planted chicory last summer for the first time, nothing grew, because of the drought. I just finished planting chicory, red clover and Icicle peas in 2 plots, for a total of about an acre and a half, I will probably add winter rye to them in a few weeks. My average first frost is mid September.
You're right on my timeline. My first frost is October 1st, and I'm putting everything in, in two weeks.
 
I planted chicory last summer for the first time, nothing grew, because of the drought. I just finished planting chicory, red clover and Icicle peas in 2 plots, for a total of about an acre and a half, I will probably add winter rye to them in a few weeks. My average first frost is mid September.

That should be fantastic!! Hope you get decent moisture. Did you till?


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That should be fantastic!! Hope you get decent moisture. Did you till?


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I lightly disced one plot, and the other plot I used my box blade on my tractor to level the plot, and I dug out some smaller stumps. So there was bare dirt on both.
 
I’ve had good success in the past with no till but moisture is key. The past two years were really dry here and my fall plots didn’t amount to much.

With even a little disturbance, you should have good results. For a big seed peas are pretty good at germinating without being covered


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We are suppose to get a half inch of rain today. I am not expecting much from the peas, they were left overs from last year. I planted some a couple weeks ago in another plot, there are a few here and there, but the deer are always in the plot. I don’t imagine they will let them grow to amount to anything.

I need to find someone selling winter rye around me. My usual coop didn’t have any, and the guy that normally has a self serve semi along the road planted winter wheat. If all else fails I will plant WW
 
Clover. I used to mix it with ladino clover and it did vary well. It is kind of like insurance for the clover. If you get a drought, chicory performs well compared to ladino. Plant them in the fall with a winter rye nurse crop. Chicory is a great companion crop for common clovers like ladino.
Agree 100%. We planted chicory with Ladino and Alice white clovers and it was a great addition for hot, dry summer weather. It makes a deep taproot, and is reported to be a good miner of soil minerals. Good mineral content ................ good antler growth.
 
If all else fails I will plant WW
Deer LOVE WW at our camp !!! They hit it first over WR, although we plant WR always. Too many good traits with WR to skip it (as long as seed is available).
 
I do plant winter wheat, and oats at times, and the deer eat it, but they also eat the winter rye, and I like the winter rye to block out weeds in the early summer months until I am ready to plant my summer/fall plots.
 
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