Collecting clover seed

[Telemark]

I would like to collect some white clover seed, but I'm not sure how to go about it.

Where I live now there is very little variety available when it comes to food plot seeds. I have a very healthy and vigorous white clover around the edges of my yard that I would like to collect seed from and sow into a new food plot I'm preparing.

The flowers are turning brown, and inside each tube-like white flower petal is a tiny green pod that looks like it might hold one or two seeds.

Does anyone know when and how I should harvest the seeds from this clover?

 

[Buckly]

I’ve never tried it but, you could use a lawn mower with a bagger attachment then spread all the clippings through a spreader where you want them.

 

[Telemark]

I’ve never tried it but, you could use a lawn mower with a bagger attachment then spread all the clippings through a spreader where you want them.

Now? Or should I wait?

 

[FarmerDan]

I’ve never tried it but, you could use a lawn mower with a bagger attachment then spread all the clippings through a spreader where you want them.

Almost! My dad, who grew-up on the farm during the depression was, I see now, a master seedsman! Flowers, grass, you name it! I thought he was looney! The problem with youngsters....

White clover seed is ready for harvest about 15-30 days after flowering begins. The problem is collecting the seed. If you wait too long the seed pods will have dried and become brittle. If, and it's a big if, there still seeds in the pod you risk shatter and blowing the seeds everywhere but where you want them. Do it too soon and you have no viable seed.

Dad use a push reel mower with a bagger. It clipped the heads off the clover - gently. He'd put all of that in a brown paper bag (breathable) and hang the bags off the rafters in one of the sheds. He'd separate the seed from the rest of the harvest organic matter somehow. By that time I'd lost interest. Commercially, the harvested material is dropped thru a pipe and there's a fan blowing across the falling chaff. The seeds are heavier than the debris and fall thru the shaft while the other crap blows out. How you would do that on you end I don't know. If you're successful the other problem you'll have is how to crack the clover seed coat.

Sounds interesting! Good luck!

 

[Barndog56]

I've collected red clover seed, but in a lazy way that is much easier than Farmer Dan's description. Once the seed head has dried up I just collect them, and then spread the entire seed heads by hand instead of trying to separate out the individual seeds. I don't worry about seed coats, I just let mother nature take care of it.

I've done it twice in my orchard and now there's red clover everywhere.

 

[Buckly]

Almost! My dad, who grew-up on the farm during the depression was, I see now, a master seedsman! Flowers, grass, you name it! I thought he was looney! The problem with youngsters....

White clover seed is ready for harvest about 15-30 days after flowering begins. The problem is collecting the seed. If you wait too long the seed pods will have dried and become brittle. If, and it's a big if, there still seeds in the pod you risk shatter and blowing the seeds everywhere but where you want them. Do it too soon and you have no viable seed.

Dad use a push reel mower with a bagger. It clipped the heads off the clover - gently. He'd put all of that in a brown paper bag (breathable) and hang the bags off the rafters in one of the sheds. He'd separate the seed from the rest of the harvest organic matter somehow. By that time I'd lost interest. Commercially, the harvested material is dropped thru a pipe and there's a fan blowing across the falling chaff. The seeds are heavier than the debris and fall thru the shaft while the other crap blows out. How you would do that on you end I don't know. If you're successful the other problem you'll have is how to crack the clover seed coat.

Sounds interesting! Good luck!

I wouldn’t think you’d need to separate the chaff, as Barndog said just spread the whole lot. If you’re in that 15-30 day window. A question I would have is what is the natural reseeding process and how long before the seeds just fall to the ground. I always thought that letting the seed go as long as possible at least once a year just to get some reseeding. Was that viable or doesnt it work that way?

 

[bigboreblr]

I collect plantain, dandelion, crabgrass, and clovers. I take them to the hunting club up north. I mix them into commercial clover seed, fertilizer, and lime. They'll grow. The extra stuff like chaff messes with seed boxes. Usually, the loose stuff goes to the top for an uneven stand. Debearded seed is nice, but the chaff and original extra material helps with keeping it moist.

 

[yoderjac]

I collect plantain, dandelion, crabgrass, and clovers. I take them to the hunting club up north. I mix them into commercial clover seed, fertilizer, and lime. They'll grow. The extra stuff like chaff messes with seed boxes. Usually, the loose stuff goes to the top for an uneven stand. Debearded seed is nice, but the chaff and original extra material helps with keeping it moist.

Just keep in mind that when you do this, you may be creating a new weed problem. That is why commercial seed is tested for noxious weeds. When some new weed is introduced into a location where it has not previously been, it may or may not find conditions conducive to fast spread. It is kind of like an non-native invasive species on a small scale. If the hunting club is not too far away, they likely have the same weeds and the risk may be low. Just something to think about...

Thanks,

Jack