Favorite clover mix?

[WTNUT]

I am agreeing with Omicron, Aberlasting is by far the best I have planted and I have planted darn near everything at some point. Alice use to be my favorite, but it can’t out do Aberlasting. If you want a mix, put them together with 15 percent red clover (any variety).

As for chicory. I like the way it makes a field look. My deer don’t seem to love it, but I am sure they would adjust to it. The problem is I have go to where I spray clover plots more than mow them. And, I don’t have any chemical mixes that I like that will kill the 15,678,459,349 wild broadleafs and grass I need to kill and not kill the chicory.


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[Wind Gypsy]

I've always made selections based on filling gaps in ag and diversity. My mixes have always been put together to combine early season with late season plants, deep root and shallow root, wet spell and dry spell favorites, etc. Basically always want something doing well with no real gaps. Probably want to hold true to that but haven't studied up much on newer cultivars.

Makes sense. I've no experience to relay on specific blends but it seems like a blend consisting of an improved red like Dynamite or Freedom (early spring growth, wet tolerant), Wet tolerant white like Alsike, Drought tolerant white that supposedly keeps leaf moisture into dry summer like Aberlasting, and a chicory that is supposed to be more palatable like WINA could work out well?

 

[Hoytvectrix]

It's on the labels of the containers. Not sure why they don't put it on the website. I'm sure they'd tell you if you asked. Hot chic is chicory, medium red clover and balansa clover

Companies do this because it allows them to substitute seeds at packaging without having to update their blend or mix online. It has been brought up a few times in this thread already how companies do not post mixes online. It has more to do with logistics than competition or someone mixing their own.

 

[WTNUT]

Forgive me for this ask…

Who has had two different mixes, on the same farm (both being in properly amended soils) and seen a blatant difference in attraction and use?

I shared a digital note with a member last week. It included close to 11 different mixes all planted the same fall and all on the same farm. All were within close enough proximity that probably 80 percent of the deer could go to any of them if there was a true favorite. I can tell you there was zero difference in used noticed.

I have planted two mixes in the same plot 1/2 of mix A on the west side and 1/2 of mix B on the east. If we are talking purely about clover mixes I have never seen any difference at my midwest farm. Therefore, I plant varieties that are strong growers, easy to maintain and last a long time. I want them to compete with weeds. And, as I have said, Aberlasting does that best for me.


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[Wind Gypsy]

Thanks! But, I'm not going to order something that's not labeled and I'm not seeking them out to tell me. I could be accused of being somewhat stubborn.

Don't think it's stubborn to want to know exactly what is in a blend rather than just trusting the salesmanship hype. I could see their hesitance to list the exact blend based on what they are able to obtain on a given year or allow them flexibility with the blend year to year, still doesn't mean i wouldn't want to see the seed tag. (looks like @Hoytvectrix beat me to this punch)

It's on the labels of the containers. Not sure why they don't put it on the website. I'm sure they'd tell you if you asked. Hot chic is chicory, medium red clover and balansa clover

Perfect example of why someone would want to know the actual mix rather than go off their vague marketing hype description. Their website describes hot chic as:
"A HARDY MIXTURE OF PH TOLERANT COLD SEASON PERENNIALS THAT CAN LAST SEVERAL YEARS AND PROVIDE NUTRIENT RICH FORAGE FOR YOUR DEER AND TURKEY. WITH A VARIETY OF CHICORY AND TWO VARIETIES OF CLOVER, HOT CHIC IS A HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER DEER FORAGE THAT HAS THE ABILITY TO TOLERATE ACIDIC SOILS, WITHSTAND DROUGHT AND CROWD OUT POTENTIAL WEED COMPETITION. HOT CHIC IS PERFECT FOR HELPING TO ESTABLISH A BRAND NEW FOOD PLOT LOCATION AND IS BEST MAINTAINED BY FERTILIZING AND PERIODIC MOWING. HOT CHIC SETS ITSELF APART BECAUSE OF IT’S ABILITY TO HANDLE THE HEAT IN THE SOUTH AND THE COLD IN THE NORTH, ALL WHILE PROVIDING PREMIUM LEVELS OF NUTRITIOUS FORAGE THAT IS HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE TO YOUR DEER. HOT CHIC IS A MUST FOR EVERY HUNTING PROPERTY.

They market it as a perennial blend but VNS MRC is frequently considered a biennial or short-lived perennial and balansa is an annual that is not cold tolerant! So if someone wants a perennial clover plot and they buy that thinking they have 2 perennial clovers included and then look at the seed tag, there is reason to be upset. One clover is short lived and the other wont even make it through the first winter [edit: saw a tag that showed fixation balansa which has a good shot at making it through winter]. Never mind the customers who don't know any better or don't read the seed tag and have no clue why their "perennial blend" has hardly any clover making it past 2 years.

 

[omicron1792]

I agree that specific clovers make little difference. Not no difference but little.

I do have noticeably more deer use in lush well growing fields than in so so ones. So getting the right ones that grow well in your climate and soil does make a big difference imo.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I agree that specific clovers make little difference. Not no difference but little.

I do have noticeably more deer use in lush well growing fields than in so so ones. So getting the right ones that grow well in your climate and soil does make a big difference imo.

There you go making sense omicron1792. Different regions - different outcomes.

From reading on here from a number of guys that are AG-experienced guys, I like the idea of adding clovers and chicory to just about any food plot. Chicory is drought tolerant and a mineral miner, clover adds N and lasts for several seasons. Many guys suggest adding some grain rye for the early-spring greens to feed winter-hungry deer, too. The red clovers we've been using are Starfire, medium red, and Persist (a blend of several red, longer-lasting clovers). We typically mix some alfalfa with Starfire red clover for a 3 to 4 year plot. As for white clovers, Alice, Ladino, and Jumbo Ladino are what we've used, combined with chicory.

 

[Telemark]

I've always made selections based on filling gaps in ag and diversity. My mixes have always been put together to combine early season with late season plants, deep root and shallow root, wet spell and dry spell favorites, etc. Basically always want something doing well with no real gaps. Probably want to hold true to that but haven't studied up much on newer cultivars.

That's pretty much how I look at it too. I've had some spectacular failures, but I've found that mixing a bunch of stuff together will usually get at least one or two things to succeed and grow where there was otherwise nothing of food value. And when the seed blend works as intended, then I get a good variety of plants, which hopefully helps to fill in some gaps in whatever is available in the surrounding area.

 

[Westwind]

I do suspect we over think it. While some will grow better than others based on plant needs, I am going counter culture on the specifics. A buddy sent me his clover recipes and it was almost akin to a the cold fusion formula. Perhaps if soil or optimism deer health are your goals it all matters… but for someone who is about hunting property layout and basic habitat improvment (beyond deer) the rabbit hole should be shallower than it’s often made. Just my two cents… and there is no wrong or right or saying someone’s take is wrong.


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Agree. And tbh, I really can‘t say what clover is performing, sometimes I think I can tell what variety is doing well but it is pretty hard to know which variety is which.

 

[Garrett S]

One thing I’ve seem to note from another thread is crimson is more for the soil than the deer


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[Bowsnbucks]

Not trying to hi-jack this thread ..... just get some specifics!

Can some of the AG guys & long-term food plotters post their actual "recipes and ratio's" ........... example - 3 lbs. of this clover, 2 lbs. of that clover, 5 lbs. of another clover?? Many of us don't know which clovers are good plot companions & how many lbs. of each to get good results. I've seen plot seed tag amounts from 3-4 lbs. per acre, to 12 to 20 lbs. per acre. That's a BIG range. You AG-experienced guys can help the "guessers" out there avoid stinker-plots. I'm not well-versed on ratio's myself.

Thanks to any who may contribute!!