Clover food plot
05-12-2020, 10:04 AM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: PA
Posts: 8
Clover food plot
I知 looking to plant a clover food plot, not very big but as big as I can with the land I got , got 15 acres and about 11 of it is wooded huntable land , so rounded by good land, have a already open section I知 gonna use and I知 very new to food plots and plan on planting the clover in fall, my main questions are that where I wanna plant it I cleared the leaves off the top and seems like thier is a decent amount of roots through ground, was looking to till it and do it as best I can but will I be able to get through them ? Thier not giant but concerned they will be tangling every second...I wanna do it right the best i can, I seen the no till method but read mixed reviews on that, I wanna plant it in fall but wanna be as prepared as I can be for when the time comes to test soil, spray and all that stuff, any help or advice is appreciated
05-12-2020, 03:03 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 2,743
well if your looking to plant in the WOODS< where tree's are growing and roots every where,
odds are your wasting your time trying, sorry to bust your bubble, but its the honest truth here!
and the reasons will be, many
one, odds are soil PH is bad for clover,(and many other things as well, which is why nothing else s really growing there as is!, SO< before even thinking about planting things, in ANY area/site, DO a soil test first, best 10 bucks you will spend and save you a lot of work and money for nothing)
next clover is a plant that needs GOOD PH to grow well, and it needs lots of sun shine
so, the tree';s now don't have leaves, or are just starting, but as you already seen the ground is covered with leaves that fell off last fall
and as such, come planting time for clover(in most parts of PA) will be about late Aug, to mid Sept at latest,and now your going to start to have leaves falling off tree's and or LOTS of shade from leaves above still on tree's
both of these things will lead to a very poor take on the clover
then the fact that clover is not a very good hunting plot come fall, due to once a few frost hit, it will go dormant, and pucker up
there are better things to plant in fall to hold /draw deer and stay attractive to deer into fall and winter!
NOW< best places on any land to plant anything, will be in the OPEN, where it will be exposed to lots of natural sunlight yr round!
and from there its about getting the spoil to be able to support the plants you want to plant,(PH, and other nutrients levels are what I am talking about when I say soil can support things)
I been planting deer specific food plots since the late 80's and and also do farming , so I have a lot of experience here.
NOW the best advice I will suggest again is a SOIL test to any site you THINK you want to plant, and get that done NOW< ASAP< and this will allow some time to get lime down if needed and for it to start to work, LIME takes TIME<
its not magic, so, any site in need of it, will take TIME to correct, and this own;t be done in ONE try!
clover again is a plant that needs GOOD ph levels in the 6.0+ range to strive
lower levels , it will not grow as well and will most times get taken over by other things that will strive in less PH conditions!
IMO< clove in PA is a Spring time planting crop, it will be more durable come fall, if you maintain it and clear out unwanted things all summer long!
but its still not a great hunting season plot! due to other things will draw better and last longer into hunting season!
odds are your wasting your time trying, sorry to bust your bubble, but its the honest truth here!
and the reasons will be, many
one, odds are soil PH is bad for clover,(and many other things as well, which is why nothing else s really growing there as is!, SO< before even thinking about planting things, in ANY area/site, DO a soil test first, best 10 bucks you will spend and save you a lot of work and money for nothing)
next clover is a plant that needs GOOD PH to grow well, and it needs lots of sun shine
so, the tree';s now don't have leaves, or are just starting, but as you already seen the ground is covered with leaves that fell off last fall
and as such, come planting time for clover(in most parts of PA) will be about late Aug, to mid Sept at latest,and now your going to start to have leaves falling off tree's and or LOTS of shade from leaves above still on tree's
both of these things will lead to a very poor take on the clover
then the fact that clover is not a very good hunting plot come fall, due to once a few frost hit, it will go dormant, and pucker up
there are better things to plant in fall to hold /draw deer and stay attractive to deer into fall and winter!
NOW< best places on any land to plant anything, will be in the OPEN, where it will be exposed to lots of natural sunlight yr round!
and from there its about getting the spoil to be able to support the plants you want to plant,(PH, and other nutrients levels are what I am talking about when I say soil can support things)
I been planting deer specific food plots since the late 80's and and also do farming , so I have a lot of experience here.
NOW the best advice I will suggest again is a SOIL test to any site you THINK you want to plant, and get that done NOW< ASAP< and this will allow some time to get lime down if needed and for it to start to work, LIME takes TIME<
its not magic, so, any site in need of it, will take TIME to correct, and this own;t be done in ONE try!
clover again is a plant that needs GOOD ph levels in the 6.0+ range to strive
lower levels , it will not grow as well and will most times get taken over by other things that will strive in less PH conditions!
IMO< clove in PA is a Spring time planting crop, it will be more durable come fall, if you maintain it and clear out unwanted things all summer long!
but its still not a great hunting season plot! due to other things will draw better and last longer into hunting season!
05-14-2020, 07:31 AM
#3
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: NE PA
Posts: 288
great advice from MRBB.
If you were able to plant something this year after taken corrective action that MRBB provided, I would plant winter rye this September instead of clover. The soil would benefit from the rye.
If you were able to plant something this year after taken corrective action that MRBB provided, I would plant winter rye this September instead of clover. The soil would benefit from the rye.
10-29-2020, 02:17 AM
#4
Spike
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Delhi
Posts: 5
There are several reasons why it is difficult to beat clover when it comes to growing food for white-tailed deer.
Clover is relatively easy to establish, easy to obtain, affordable, and has a wide variety of species that can cope with most climates or soil types.
Clover is relatively easy to establish, easy to obtain, affordable, and has a wide variety of species that can cope with most climates or soil types.
05-09-2021, 08:07 AM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 2,743
Clover here in the USA is a rather PICKY plant!
it requires a soil PH it likes and has to remain in that small range to thrive,
its also very easy to get over run with other weeds due to it can have slower growth rates in a field based on how sensitive it can be to PH level, lower or higher ion some spots, and it either will grow slow or NOT at all
which tends to lead to a lot more up keep, from adding nutrients as needed, to mowing or spraying with chemicals(not all that cheap chemicals) to help prevent weeds from taking it over!
so, clover is NOT a very Cheap or easy thing to plant and have it thrive if were being honest!
when things are RIGHT, yes it can be a great source of a lot of tonnage of food for critters(not just deer)
but it is far from a easy or cheap endeavor in my 30+ yrs of planting it, from plots as small as a 1/16 acre to fields of it over 70+ acres
