Wigmap asked me in another post how close I mow my clover plot(s), I wondered if others had the same question. As with almost everything else,... it depends.


If there are weeds, even grasses, I will mow as close to the ground as I can (2-4" ). If the plot is mostly clover I will mow to 6-8" and not less. as Wigmap noted, its harder to mow a designated height than as low as possible. In the picture below - I' m mowing to about 6" height.

Its good to remember that a well established clover patch will have almost as much growth below the ground (2-6" ) as above aftermowing - and will bounce back quickly from a close mowing - faster that most weeds or grasses.

My haybine I' ve used the last 4 years is " under-the-weather" and needs some $$ work. http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/...ld_6_22_02.jpg Right now I' m using a brushog - and while it works, its alot more ragged and not as efficient. Currently I' m in the market for a 3-Point hitch sickle-bar mower to replace the haybine. When cutting - its important not to leave so much mulch (cuttings) that the plot is choked out. You may have to cut several times rather than one or two times. When ever possible - I leave the cuttings right on the plot - the nutrients work their way back into the soil eventually and cut down on maintainence fertilizers/lime.

When it comes to mowing clover - there is really one rule of thumb - its hard to mow too much! Repeated mowing in most cases benefits clover. - With that in mind - remember that you want to leave 8-10" of growth going into winter, while the plant is dormant, to allow sufficient growth on the plot in winter to be beneficial.

Good luck!

Wow, another outstanding picture. Sometimes I think you are a big show-off.[&:] I just cut the clover yesterday and am very pleased with it, even if it doesn' t compare to yours. We finally got a little rain. Did you clean out your air cleaner? I remember you said to fertilize corn around the 4th of July but don' t recall what it was, would you enlighten me please? I remember it was high in nitrogen. Thanks, terry.[&:]

Farm Hunter:

Just curious to know if you bale up your food plots? With a haybine the windrows at times can be heavy enough to kill some vegetation. I had some grass in one of mine older clover plots and I mowed and baled it up this year before the grass seed had a chance to mature. Ended up with some good quality hay. Most of my ohter plots are too small to try this on them to make it a common practice.

greg

Farmhunter; that looks beautiful. You put my fields to shame.

Dan O.

Terry- thanks on the pics - With the digital camera, I take alot of pictures, only a few ever get poasted (most are crud!).

As far as fertilizing corn, If the soil is not already high in Nitrogen, I apply 10-15% at planting, with all the P & K required, and the balance when the corn is about knee high. I usually broadcast 46-0-0 UREA at about 150-200 lbs/acre (puts down 70-100 lbs of N). Don' t wait till its over knee high - a little early is preferred to a little late - the N must be there fot that 3-4 ft shot of growth to tassling - Some leaf burn is to be expected where the UREA lands in a whorl, but no damage is done to the corn. - The ears of corn and # of rows per ear is all decided at this time, long before the ear of corn ever emerges from the stalk. Once kernals start to develop - N comes from the plant - NOT from the soil - so don' t wait - applying N once ears emerge - or after tassling is a wast of time & money.

No I didn' t clean the air filter - in fact I hadn' t noticed how dirty it was until you posted - When I go up this weekend I' ll make a point to check it out.

Greg-dude -

I' ve had a neighbor farmer bale the clover plots for us in the past. He got very good yields. Its hard to coordinate with the farmer, and its always on his time, not always when it should be mowed.

Since then, I prefer to just mow it myself and leave the clippings when I can.
If the feild is real thick I' ll mow it several times over two weeks to keep the clippings from choking th plot. The nutrirnts in the clippings end up back in the soil, and less field maintanence is required.
($$ from topdressing).

Like you - several of my plots are just to small to justify baling.

Dan O. - Thanks for the compliment - I somehow think most of your plots would give mine a run for the money!.

OK maintain clover at 6" got it.Now question,and probably a dumb question but....I have about an acre of clover.The only thing I have right now is a riding mower.Will this be ok to mow the clover?
thanks

germain; absolutely. The riding mower will chop it up to a fine mulch. You will have to set the mower housing much higher than you normally would (use farmhunter recommendations) and you may have to mow slow (very slow) if it' s thick but it' ll do the job. Depending on the make of the lawntractor you might be able to buy trash blades rather than lawn blades.

I' ve finally moved up to a 22 hp lawn tractor that handles the grass/clover mixture between my fruit/grape rows (4 1/2 acres) . I only pull out the bushhog if I' ve let it go for a couple of months and let it turn woody.

Dan O.

Thanks Dan.

FH...man your field is looking awesome! I wish I had a few acres I could put in a plot.

Germain...I wish I had a riding mower to do mine [:' (]

I only have a self propelled push mower, but I set it on the highest setting (about 4" ) and away I go. It' s not real difficult, just takes a long time. Since my plot is less than 1/2 acre, I can handle it this way. I will say though...every time I mow it, it gets better and better. I think what FH said about leaving the clippings must help. If I was a deer, I' d be out there as soon as I heard the mower quit. Man, talk about some serious salad that' s easy to eat

I' ve already mowed mine twice this year, and right now it' s about 8" tall. I usually mow it when it gets about 12" . Any taller than that, and I' m in trouble. This is the 2nd season for my plot and it' s actually quite a bit better than last year. It' s really starting to gain on the grass...and the weeds are almost non-existent.