Clover die off
 

We planted a mix of clover for a food plot 2 years ago. The first year, it was pretty spotty. Last year it was fantastic. Many different varieties of clover, thick, tall, it was just great. Now this year, where all of that clover was last year, is just grass. Very little clover at all. Why did it all die off? Nothing was sprayed on it. We have a clover plot that we planted last spring not far away (30 yards) that is doing fantastic. Any ideas?

RE: Clover die off
 

Sounds like you had mostly shortlived varieties of clovers such as red clovers, alsike, ect. They have about a two year life cycle. These clovers are cheaper and sprout more agressivly than the white, long lived, clovers such as Ladino. These short lived clovers are added to commercial deer mixes because they are cheap, are moredroughtthan white clovers, handle a wider variety of conditions, sprout quickly and givea short term "feel good" effect by looking at the plot. White clovers are prefered by deer over red clovers, but the soil, environment, and maintenancehave to be very good to make the plot last 5 plus years.