Chicory filling an important time gap for me

[Native Hunter]

When I first started plotting, I was talking to an experienced plotter about the value of different food plot species. When we were discussing chicory, he didn't have a lot of good things to say about it. He felt it was overhyped.

Well......roll the clock around a few years, and now that I have my own experience, I couldn't disagree with him more. There is nothing that I have ever planted that I see eaten better, and the feast goes on for nearly the entire year. More importantly, fall planted chicory grows quickly in the spring and fills an important time gap for me. I am now blessed to have farmers on three sides of me planting soybeans, and those beans are extremely important. However, the beans have just now been planted, so you can't rely on them during the crucial antler growing months of April through at least a good part of June. That's where chicory really shines.

My chicory is currently trying to bolt and flower, but the deer are literally keeping it mowed down - even eating the stems down to within a few inches from the ground. Planted with it is a lot of red clover, which is also being eaten much better than my white clover. I've come to the conclusion that there may not be a better food plot species than chicory, and there may not be a better food plot duo than chicory and red clover.

Chicory Today


Soybeans Today


Soybeans Today

 

[SD51555]

I'd throw plantain in there for the tie. Durable, highly desirable, probably impossible to snuff out.

 

[Foggy47]

The thing about chicory is......it's difficult to spray any broadleaf chemicals without killing the chicory. Been a major deal breaker to me. OTOH....the deer just destroy the chicory crops I have planted. It's an amazing draw to my deer.

 

[Native Hunter]

I'd throw plantain in there for the tie. Durable, highly desirable, probably impossible to snuff out.

I wish my deer would eat plantain, but they just don't touch it. You are definitely right about it being tough to eradicate.

 

[Native Hunter]

The thing about chicory is......it's difficult to spray any broadleaf chemicals without killing the chicory. Been a major deal breaker to me. OTOH....the deer just destroy the chicory crops I have planted. It's an amazing draw to my deer.

Yes, it is definitely an incredible draw.

 

[SD51555]

I wish my deer would eat plantain, but they just don't touch it. You are definitely right about it being tough to eradicate.

Do you have the plantain god gave you, or a named variety? I put in Boston, and I'd never know I had it, were it not for my exclusion cage last year. That cage is full of chicory and plantain.

 

[SD51555]

I have a leg up in that my deer will eat about anything green after October 10th.

 

[Native Hunter]

Do you have the plantain god gave you, or a named variety? I put in Boston, and I'd never know I had it, were it not for my exclusion cage last year. That cage is full of chicory and plantain.

View attachment 53359

I just have wild plantain. I only have it in one small plot, so not a lot of it. The named varieties sounds interesting.

 

[Native Hunter]

I have a leg up in that my deer will eat about anything green after October 10th.

I’ve never had any luck with turnips but do get some use of radishes. Our deer can be picky eaters at times.

 

[Catscratch]

Haven't tried plantain but I couldn't agree more with Native about chicory being a great plot plant. It's a staple in my mixes.

 

[SD51555]

Haven't tried plantain but I couldn't agree more with Native about chicory being a great plot plant. It's a staple in my mixes.

Absolutely. I've got it on every foot of plot space I have.

 

[MN Slick]

Native, I like what I hear. What was the planting ratio of chicory to red clover? What kind of maintenance does the plot require? Do you frost seed? Mow? Fertilizer? I've had too many plot fails due to weather and need to simplify things. Drougth tolerant chicory and clover sounds like a good solution. Thanks

 

[GoldenTriangleIL]

Native, our deer must have similar preferences. Perhaps it's just easier to detect, but my Red Clover plantings appear to be browsed much more heavily than my white clover plots, especially this time of year. Once fall arrives, the whites begin to shine but until then, red clover reigns supreme and is so very overlooked. Chicory might be more underrated. I have it in my clover and alfalfa plots and it gets browsed incredibly hard all season, even the stems get browsed. Only downside to chicory is that I am not sure if it can tolerate some of the broadleaf specific herbicides people like to spray on clover.

 

[Native Hunter]

Native, I like what I hear. What was the planting ratio of chicory to red clover? What kind of maintenance does the plot require? Do you frost seed? Mow? Fertilizer? I've had too many plot fails due to weather and need to simplify things. Drougth tolerant chicory and clover sounds like a good solution. Thanks

I plant it with grains in the fall, and sometimes I include ladino clover too. Shown below is my mix per acre. I have been doing "spray, throw and mow" to establish my plots but I am not against some disking. Drilling would be even better than what I do, but I don't have a drill.

Medium Red Clover (preferably a named variety that does well in your area) = 9 lbs
Ladino Clover = 6 lbs
Wheat and Oats mixed = 60 lbs (rye would work too)
Sometime to this I will add a light dusting of radishes or something else just for the first fall

I don't mow until late summer or early fall. At that time, I will sweeten up the plot by adding some grains for the hunting season and possibly other seed. The chicory will keep trying to bolt and flower, and the deer just keep eating it back as it grows though the summer. Annual grasses are my worst weed problem, so some Clethodim in the spring before they have time to seed is my best solution. I don't have a lot of problems with broadleaf weeds, so just some manual work with my weed whacker in spots gets me by on that. If you have lots of broadleaf weed problems, I'm not aware of a perfect herbicide solution for the chicory - as Foggy has already pointed out.

Good luck.

 

[Native Hunter]

Native, our deer must have similar preferences. Perhaps it's just easier to detect, but my Red Clover plantings appear to be browsed much more heavily than my white clover plots, especially this time of year. Once fall arrives, the whites begin to shine but until then, red clover reigns supreme and is so very overlooked. Chicory might be more underrated. I have it in my clover and alfalfa plots and it gets browsed incredibly hard all season, even the stems get browsed. Only downside to chicory is that I am not sure if it can tolerate some of the broadleaf specific herbicides people like to spray on clover.

Yes, it sounds like our deer are very much alike.

 

[Native Hunter]

Here is a herbicide that claims to get most broadleaf weeds but not harm chicory. I have never used it, so I cannot vouch for it. Also, I didn't check into how expensive it is to use, but my guess is that it won't be cheap. Also, it looks like the company advertising this in in New Zealand, so not sure of availability here.

WHAT HERBICIDES TO USE IN CHICORY BASED PASTURE

CONTROLLING WEEDS IN CHICORY BASED PASTUREReply to a question on weed control in a horse pasture containg some chicory.The presence of chicory limits the herbicide choices very severely, because almost all the good broadleaf weed sprays will damage chicory.However, all authorities do agree that flum

www.rainbowbrown.co.nz

 

[goatman]

And not just deer. One Oct. afternoon I watched 2 squirrels eat chicory like a salad for about a half an hour. And I totally agree about the red clover. Here the bucks like it in the summer alot.

 

[omicron1792]

4oz/acre of imox/raptor or pursuit. I mix in 12oz/acre of Clethodim too. You’re welcome.

 

[omicron1792]

 

[omicron1792]

Imazethapyr 2SL

Imazethapyr provides both pre-emergence and post-emergence control of grasses and broadleaf weeds in legumes and beans. Works best when soil is moist prior to application. Active Ingredients : Imazethapyr 22.87% Comparable Products : Pursuit, Thunder Manufacturer : ADAMA

chemicalwarehouse.com

ALLIGARE Imox Herbicide - 1 Quart https://a.co/d/2GsH5Rc