White Sweet Clover Planting Conditions?

[SD51555]

I've searched high and low and cannot find a clear answer on when to plant white sweet clover. SARE doesn't have it, the seed sellers don't have it, NRCS doesn't have it. Normally, I'd just fling it out there and see what happens, but sold seed is scarified, so it doesn't have the natural mechanisms to resist germination until the right conditions arrive. I always want to go as early as possible to beat the warm season plants, but I've also lost lots of seed to pushing planting times too early.

I've gotten away with it on some things (japanese millet, flax, barley), but not many.

 

[SD51555]

Might as well throw balansa in there too. All their instructions talk about summer planting, but I don't have open windows in summer to plant balansa.

 

[Foggy47]

Just did a quick check on when to plant white sweet clover. Found nothing......except that it should be planted on "well drained" soil and not on highly acidic soils. You OK with that?

 

[SD51555]

Just did a quick check on when to plant white sweet clover. Found nothing......except that it should be planted on "well drained" soil and not on highly acidic soils. You OK with that?

No. I wanna know if it can go on cold soil or warm. All I found was a minimum soil temp to germ of 42 degrees.

 

[Foggy47]

No. I wanna know if it can go on cold soil or warm. All I found was a minimum soil temp to germ of 42 degrees.

What I meant is......You really cannot claim "well drained" soils with a good PH.....can you?

FWIW......I planted my yellow clover last fall (late August)......and I hope this was the right thing to do. Somehow I thought I read fall planting was preferable. Gotta check my sources.....but that may be tonight. Gotta play some golf now. FORE!

 

[Terrific_tom]

Here you go.

HUBAM WHITE SWEET CLOVER - Johnston Seed Company

Hubam is a summer annual sweetclover that is adapted from Georgia to Maine. It blooms and sets seeds in the planting year. Its value is largely in its soil health benefits (including nitrogen fixation) and its ability to attract pollinators with its abundant nectar production.

www.johnstonseed.com

 

[SD51555]

Here you go.

HUBAM WHITE SWEET CLOVER - Johnston Seed Company

Hubam is a summer annual sweetclover that is adapted from Georgia to Maine. It blooms and sets seeds in the planting year. Its value is largely in its soil health benefits (including nitrogen fixation) and its ability to attract pollinators with its abundant nectar production.

www.johnstonseed.com

Bingo! Thank you!


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[SD51555]

What I meant is......You really cannot claim "well drained" soils with a good PH.....can you?

FWIW......I planted my yellow clover last fall (late August)......and I hope this was the right thing to do. Somehow I thought I read fall planting was preferable. Gotta check my sources.....but that may be tonight. Gotta play some golf now. FORE!

You’re golden on your yellow. I’m excited to see how that does for you.

And I’ve got the well drained and the pH figured out now. I’m about 6.0 all over and high and dry.


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[bigboreblr]

cpntractile roots. Never even heard the word before. This clover has my interest perked. I've lost plants to not planting them early enough to overwinter.

 

[SD51555]

I spread white sweet clover into one of my clear cuts about 3 years ago. It was a long shot, but one of those $20 / 10 minute ideas. I found 99% of it didn't come up, but I did find some individual plants out there, and to my surprise, it grew fast, and the deer were eating it in summer. I'm kicking around the idea of planting it around 60 days before frost as a quick forage biomass maker while all the other things are waiting to push the following spring.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

This is what i got from GO seed a couple years ago when asking if fixation will winter kill if fall planted in MN zone 4:

Thank you for contacting GO Seed regarding FIXatioN Balansa Clover.

FIXatioN will grow well in the spring if it’s planted in the late summer/early fall, between July 1st and August 31st, in your area.

 

[SD51555]

This is what i got from GO seed a couple years ago when asking if fixation will winter kill if fall planted in MN zone 4:

That explains why I have/had so darn much of it. I planted right in the middle of that window. It must have reseeded last year, because I don't recall ever putting any more seed down in 2023.