killing clover with chemicals
10-05-2017, 08:05 AM
#2
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Lexington NC USA
Posts: 459
Clover pulls nitrogen from the air and transfers it to the soil which benefits surrounding plants. I'm sure after spraying there would be some nitrogen left over in the soil. Unless the area is really weedy you might try mowing it as low as possible leaving the clover alive and plant the brassicas. I don't know this for sure but if sown thick under good conditions (rain and temps) brassicas will out compete most weeds and probably even clover.
10-09-2017, 12:58 PM
#3
Spike
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Southern piedmont of Virginia
Posts: 60
The base crop in all my fields is clover, and alfalfa. Every August I mow, then take a steel drag (making sure rain is in the forecast) and drag the fields. I might even set my disk blades straight and do that before I drag. This exposes dirt but doesn’t do much harm to the clover or alfalfa. Once done I lightly broadcast turnips, beets and radishes right over the clover and alfalfa. The seeds take, every time, and when the clover is no longer palatable the turnips, beets and radishes are good to go. An added benefit is these crops help keep the soil from being compacted because they bore into the soil and make holes, and by spring they are gone. In my opinion clover is the #1 crop for deer on a (almost) year round basis, period. Lastly, in the spring you can over seed clover and/or mix in chicory and add to the protein content of the crop.
I’d never kill clover...ever.
I’d never kill clover...ever.
10-10-2017, 02:01 PM
#4
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: a van down by the river
Posts: 8,939
Clover could potentially add some amounts of nitrogen to the soil, but that would generally be only if it is turned under when it is green. Spraying, mowing, or anything else that does not actually incorporate it into the soil will likely not result in an appreciable increase in plant available nitrogen. Not to say there aren't other benefits, such erosion control and water management, that could be accomplished by spraying then using no-till. Nitrogen accumulation is just not one of those benefits. Nitrogen-fixing plants do not fixate much nitrogen in the soil. Almost all of the fixated nitrogen is captured by the plant for growth, and is thus contained in the plant matter.
