Fertilizer Question

[cornfedkiller]

I have a clover plot that I planted this spring, and I fertilized it heavily prior to planting (soil test showed very low numbers). I had an awesome stand of clover growing up until about mid June when it dried out and we haven't had any rain to speak of since May, so the plot looks pretty sad right now.

My question is, if/when it starts raining again and the clover starts to come back, I plan on mowing the weeds out of it (clipping them just above the clover), but would spreading a few bags of fertilizer out there do any good, or is there plenty still in the soil from this spring?

 

[Tap]

How's the pH? You are wasting money and labor spreading fertilizer if your soil is acidic. Plants cannot access fertilizer when pH is low.

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[cornfedkiller]

How's the pH? You are wasting money and labor spreading fertilizer if your soil is acidic. Plants cannot access fertilizer when pH is low.

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I put the recommended amount of lime on it this past spring, and it was growing like crazy when it stopped raining, so I'm guessing the pH is alright.

 

[FarmerDan]

There's not a straight line relationship between fertilizer applied and yield of the crop. It's hard to answer you question. The initial dose of fertilizer might supply enormous benefit...or it might do nothing at all. it depends on, as Tap said, you soil pH....and the level of nutrients you applied. Having said all of that, I'm skeptical additional applications of fertilizer are going to immediately affect your clover. Now, down the road the answer might be different.

Got some numbers to share?

 

[BuckSutherland]

cornfed,

More fertilizer is not always the answer. If you have not had rain it becomes a struggle for the nutrients in the soil to be transferred into the plant. Adequate and timely rains can make even the crappiest farmers look like pros, and inadequate rains can make a great farmer look like a horses's ass. If you are looking for a quick "boost" in case it rains spread some urea. Nitrogen will boost it faster than anything else. Needs to be applied right before the rain or be treated with a stabilizer.

 

[yoderjac]

You don't mention your location or the kind of clover. Many perennial clovers like ladino go dormant in the summer when there is no rain. The problem with spring planting perennial clover is that they take so long to get established, summer weeds invade them. When planted in the fall with a Winter Rye cover crop, they get a significant advantage over summer weeds the next spring. Some of the BOB seed brands include inexpensive annual clover like Berseem as a high percentage of the mix. The plot looks great at first, but if conditions are not right, once the annual clovers in the mix die you can have an issue.

As for fertilizer, I would not be anxious to add it. It takes time for soil amendments to work depending on your soil type and how they are applied. More is not necessarily better and can be worse. Adding fertilizer with N can make the field more attractive to weeds and worsen the problem.

If I were you, presuming this is perennial clover, I think I'd wait and watch this fall.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[cornfedkiller]

Thanks guys.

BuckSutherland - My soil test was 2 P and 73 K, pH of 5.5 with a 6.7 buffer index. I added a half ton of pell lime and I can't remember off the top of my head what the exact fertilizer amounts were because I bought it in bulk, but it was something like 100# of each P and K.

Jack- I'm in southeast Iowa, and the clover is a mixture of different types of ladino clovers. I can't remember what they all were, but I feel like "Evergraze" was one of them? And I know spring planted clover isn't ideal, but it was either plant it this spring and hopefully have some clover there this fall, or wait until this fall. It was looking very good earlier in the spring. Just hoping it comes back when (if) it starts raining again, and I'll have some weeds to deal with at that time, but not the end of the world.

 

[broom_JM]

I typically mow and fertilize clover in the Fall, but that is after it was established the previous year. When you get a positive rain event the clover will bounce back and do well, with or without fertilizer. Additional P and K next Fall would be smart.

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[swat1018]

I'd add more lime before fert.

 

[FarmerDan]

Thanks guys.

BuckSutherland - My soil test was 2 P and 73 K, pH of 5.5 with a 6.7 buffer index. I added a half ton of pell lime and I can't remember off the top of my head what the exact fertilizer amounts were because I bought it in bulk, but it was something like 100# of each P and K.

Ummm, your P was 2? Not 20? Just 2? Two what? lbs/acre? Parts per million (ppm)? I guess for P it doesn't matter. That's one's so slow and depending on what units were talking about, k might be relatively low also, more fertilizer can't hurt.
When I see number like yours I have to ask what it is your sampling, and, trying only to be helpful, tell me how you got your sample? There are good sampling procedures....and then all the rest.

You said you maybe applied 100 lbs each of P & K? Material or actual lbs of nutrient?
and on how big an area?

 

[cornfedkiller]

Ummm, your P was 2? Not 20? Just 2? Two what? lbs/acre? Parts per million (ppm)? I guess for P it doesn't matter. That's one's so slow and depending on what units were talking about, k might be relatively low also, more fertilizer can't hurt.
When I see number like yours I have to ask what it is your sampling, and, trying only to be helpful, tell me how you got your sample? There are good sampling procedures....and then all the rest.

You said you maybe applied 100 lbs each of P & K? Material or actual lbs of nutrient?
and on how big an area?

Yes, just 2..thats not a typo haha. And its ppm.

And what do you mean what it is that I'm sampling? I borrowed a soil probe, took a half dozen or so probes 6" deep from around the plot, mixed them together in a glass jar, put them in the little baggie that the lab provides, and sent it off to Midwest Laboratories.

And I applied 100# of actual nutrient. And the plot is about 1 acre.

 

[FarmerDan]

Good! 2 ppm is as low a number as I've seen. I just wondered what it was you were sampling - like how would you describe the field? Old pasture? Reclaimed forest? Sandy beach? Using a soil probe is great! Some people just use a shovel and grab a handful of dirt here and there. When we sample we are trying to re-create the conditions of the soil profile in which your plants will be growing. That would be about two-million pounds of growing medium in the top six inches. So, six samples is a little light - probably less than a pound of soil to represent the two million!

And the deeper you sample the worse the results are likely to be. Six inches is max for what we are doing. If you can't get the nutrients into the depth of you sample, then there's no point in going that deep. Sampling at four inches is my goal. I see the results and adjust if I'm going to do some deeper tillage. Point being, if my 4-inch results are bad, my 6-inch results will be even worse.

The sample results would indicate you had four pounds of P in the top six inches. You applied 100 lbs of actual P. Now you have 104 pounds or 52 ppm. That's good! The K test result was 73 ppm or 146 lbs per acre. Add another hundred and you are at a perfect place!

Sounds like a winner. I'd resample again next fall or the spring after.

 

[cornfedkiller]

Thanks for the info. The field is old pasture and CRP for the last 10 years. As you mentioned, there are things I could've done a little different to get a perfect sample, but being that its a food plot, I figure it was probably accurate enough!

And yeah 2ppm is very low - I was surprised myself. I grew up in an area with very good soil where I never had to worry about much with my food plots, and my first year plots here didnt do so hot, so then after I soil sampled, I found out why! And until the drought hit, my clover was looking phenomenal this year!

 

[MojoRisin]

I don't want to hijack this thread, but could someone recommend a good soil probe for food plots? I never heard of one before reading this and I too just used a shovel.

 

[cornfedkiller]

I don't want to hijack this thread, but could someone recommend a good soil probe for food plots? I never heard of one before reading this and I too just used a shovel.

My local co-op and seed guy (where I did the test though) both have probes they just let me borrow.

 

[cornfedkiller]

Testing posting a photo...

 

[FarmerDan]

A good soil probe is relatively expensive to acquire, but an investment with a return! Online at Amazon, Forestry Suppliers, Home Depot, WalMart. Some of the independent soil labs sell sampling equipment. Hard to tell where you might find one locally.

For example:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...=soil+sample,lawngarden,253&crid=WJEG5A5V2E8T

http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/search.asp?stext=soil probe