Seeking input on several clovers

[Bowsnbucks]

For anyone here who has experience with any of the following clovers, can you gents post your pros & cons for the following:

Balansa
Aberlasting
Frosty berseem

Looking at them from a food plot use perspective. These are 3 varieties that we haven't used before at camp. Any info posted here will surely help other plotters on HT as well. Thanks in advance for any & all info.

 

[Stubborn1VT]

I have had good success with balansa clover. It jumped out of the ground and grew big leaves. The deer liked it. The downside was that it is an annual, so I have switched mostly to medium red and alsike. Those two cover most conditions, are inexpensive and act as a bi-annual at least.

I tried Frosty berseem and it did not take on my clay soil. I can't recall if it was too wet, too dry or what. It's supposed to really put out a bunch of biomass. It is also an annual. My favorite annual for soil improvement is crimson.

My go-to companies for clover are Merit Seed in Ohio and Outside Pride.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I have had good success with balansa clover. It jumped out of the ground and grew big leaves. The deer liked it. The downside was that it is an annual, so I have switched mostly to medium red and alsike. Those two cover most conditions, are inexpensive and act as a bi-annual at least.

I tried Frosty berseem and it did not take on my clay soil. I can't recall if it was too wet, too dry or what. It's supposed to really put out a bunch of biomass. It is also an annual. My favorite annual for soil improvement is crimson.

My go-to companies for clover are Merit Seed in Ohio and Outside Pride.

I've read that Balansa re-seeds pretty heavily if left go to seed heads, which extends the plot to some degree. Were you not able to let it make seed heads there in Vermont? Just wondering.

 

[Stubborn1VT]

It seemed to make more leaf and fewer heads. Overall, it just seemed less persistent than red clover. Every time I planted Balansa, I needed to heavily frost seed to keep it going, so I moved away from planting it. YMMV.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I only have good things to say about Frosty Berseem.

 

[homerj]

A person should specify what kind of balansa. Fixation seems to be the most talked about by deer guys, but there are at least a few balansa varieties being used and sold. Fixation is the most winter hardy.

 

[bigboreblr]

Ever planted whitetail institute clover? The stuff that grows fast and big is berseem clover. They give you more berseem than their trademarked ladino in the bag. Still good stuff in my opinion. Just can get both cheaper elsewhere.

I get some white clover with a very heavy pink / orange hue at home. I almost think its medeterrainan clover. Something to look into. Green clover's site might talk a bit about each of them.

 

[Westwind]

All really good varieties. Aberlasting is a Caucasian variety similar to Kura. Kura is hard to get going but is naturally roundup resistant and is damn near invasive, lol. Aberlasting is easier to get going. I like what you are doing there. One or two of those three will likely be compatible with a lot of conditions. Frosty Berseem and Balansa kinda act like annuals for me. If it was me I’d add some big leaf variety like Alice White or Jumbo II. It will take off after the others peter out. I also always add a little (10%) Alsike. Alsike is forgiving of imperfect conditions. Mix ‘em up and let it rip.

Next spring frost seed a half rate of Aberlasting, one of the big leaf varieties and maybe 10% Alsike. I’d say just frost seed with whatever is left over but I’m not sure if you can frost seed your berseem or balansa.

Don’t forget some chicory and don’t be afraid to add a little inoculant even if they say its pre-inoculated!

 

[dhj32455]

This is the DIY mix I settled on last year - Seems to have a lit bit of everything, and works across different site types on the property in the NWLP.

Annual	Dixie Crimson Clover
Annual	Fixation Balansa Clover
Bi-Ann	Endure Forage Chickory
Perrenial	Medium Red Clover
Annual	Frosty Berseem Clover
Annual	Alyce Clover
Perrenial	Jumbo Ladino Clover
Perrenial	Alice White Clover

 

[davidhelmly]

This is the DIY mix I settled on last year - Seems to have a lit bit of everything, and works across different site types on the property in the NWLP.

Annual	Dixie Crimson Clover
Annual	Fixation Balansa Clover
Bi-Ann	Endure Forage Chickory
Perrenial	Medium Red Clover
Annual	Frosty Berseem Clover
Annual	Alyce Clover
Perrenial	Jumbo Ladino Clover
Perrenial	Alice White Clover

It seems odd to me that a seed company would misspell chicory.

 

[dhj32455]

Lol, may be that I fat fingered it.

 

[Telemark]

Is chicory only biannual? I thought it was a perennial.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Is chicory only biannual? I thought it was a perennial.

Biannual sounds about right from my experience. I want to plant a pure stand of it sometime to see if it lasts any longer than in a mix.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[davidhelmly]

Is chicory only biannual? I thought it was a perennial.

Chicory is definitely a perennial in Ga.

 

[bigboreblr]

Some clovers are prolific seeders like most white clovers. OTher clovers or chicory wont live long if you mow or use non slelective herbicides before it goes to seed.

I about gave up on medium red because I used to mow monthly.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

A person should specify what kind of balansa. Fixation seems to be the most talked about by deer guys, but there are at least a few balansa varieties being used and sold. Fixation is the most winter hardy.

I was thinking Fixation Balansa for our place. Welter's has it, maybe others do too. Was looking to try other types of clover at camp, so I asked for info on here - figured you gents would know about several types.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

This is the DIY mix I settled on last year - Seems to have a lit bit of everything, and works across different site types on the property in the NWLP.

Annual	Dixie Crimson Clover
Annual	Fixation Balansa Clover
Bi-Ann	Endure Forage Chickory
Perrenial	Medium Red Clover
Annual	Frosty Berseem Clover
Annual	Alyce Clover
Perrenial	Jumbo Ladino Clover
Perrenial	Alice White Clover

We've planted crimson, medium red, Alice white, Ladino, and Jumbo Ladino in past & current plots. We've mixed in some chicory in many of our clover plots too. Crimson - for us - is a one-hit wonder, It doesn't reseed well here, but it's good deer chow & N-fixer. Fixation Balansa & Frosty Berseem are 2 types we're looking to try. I'm wondering if we should plant those in separate test strips to see how each one flourishes /flops/ survives for us.

If we find a good seed mix that will last for 3 or 4 years (or more!), we're just feeding deer & turkeys - so we don't terminate by spraying or tillage just for the sake of doing it. More bang for our $$$ way of thinking. But we do rotate fields when we do terminate & start over with new plots. We're always on the look-out for good, long-lasting, soil-friendly seed mixes to last for 3 years and longer. I - and our camp members - are open to ALL info & suggestions. Keep 'em coming, gentlemen.

 

[farmlegend]

I tried Frosty berseem and it did not take on my clay soil.

Same. Have included berseem a few times and it barely made an appearance. I consider berseem seed to be no more useful than grains of sand in the clover seed mix.

In 26 years of growing clover, my favorites are alice white, medium red, and alsike. Giving "incompletes" to balansa and YBSC until I have more experience with them.

The "okay" class includes ladino and crimson.

The NFW will I putthatshitonmyfarmeveragain is birdsfoot trefoil.

 

[dhj32455]

We've planted crimson, medium red, Alice white, Ladino, and Jumbo Ladino in past & current plots. We've mixed in some chicory in many of our clover plots too. Crimson - for us - is a one-hit wonder, It doesn't reseed well here, but it's good deer chow & N-fixer. Fixation Balansa & Frosty Berseem are 2 types we're looking to try. I'm wondering if we should plant those in separate test strips to see how each one flourishes /flops/ survives for us.

If we find a good seed mix that will last for 3 or 4 years (or more!), we're just feeding deer & turkeys - so we don't terminate by spraying or tillage just for the sake of doing it. More bang for our $$$ way of thinking. But we do rotate fields when we do terminate & start over with new plots. We're always on the look-out for good, long-lasting, soil-friendly seed mixes to last for 3 years and longer. I - and our camp members - are open to ALL info & suggestions. Keep 'em coming, gentlemen.

I like the idea of test strips, and should do the same - but my plots don't lend themselves to that to easily.

My goal was a mix of annual/perennial and multiples of each , since I have such a wide variation of soil/moisture levels, even across the same plot. area. The thought was what ever seed takes in a given spot is the right clover . That being said, I am not the best at telling them apart...Crimson and medium red OK, but still need to work on sorting between the whites.

Agree with you about wanting long term clovers fields. I also continue to build the weaker soil with Rye each fall and fill in bare spots each year as maintenance, with a hope of keeping a long term plot.

D

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Frosty berseem good: deer like it, can frost seed. Bad: likely to winter kill in fall plots
Fixation balansa good: deer like it, can put on a ton of biomass, seems to reseed a bit, more likely to make it through winter, not as competitive as red/white clovers if you want to transition out of it. Bad: doesn’t always seem to take well for me for some reason. Doesn’t frost seed well - better fall planted.