Slow Growth?

[Dutch]

Put in some clover a month ago. Check it last week, barely germinating. Rober sent me a message saying the same, from northern Potter.

I know it's been dry and chilly, so, I'm chalking it up to that. Seems like even the alfalfa that's been planted around here is way behind.

Anyone else having trouble this spring?

[cspot]

Yes. I put in clover and chicory in this spring and it isn't doing the greatest. It has germinated, but I haven't had much growth. Weather even in SWPA hasn't been the greatest. Clover always seems better the 2nd year than it does the first year anyway. Will be planting the Mossy Oak Outfitter's blend here around the 4th of July or so. I had awesome results with it last year.

[Dutch]

Wouldn't July be to early for that blend? Seems that is better for a September planting or am I wrong?

[bushmaster]

I'll be doing all my clover planting in Mid-August this year. Still have to spray the fields with roundup a couple times.

[cspot]

I went back and looked and I planted in the beginning of August and not July. I will try and do the same this year as well. It did outstanding last year, but it caught the rains just right. They were hitting the brassica stubble even into January.

[Dutch]

Cspot, I would have thought August would have been to early. I planted cereal grains last year, and they went untouched. Even this spring, untouched. When I plant brassicas, they go nuts.

[cspot]

It seemed to work well last year. I honestly think deer have different preferences in different parts of the state. What deer hammer in one area goes practically untouched in another. The one advantage of getting it out early was it got some really good growth before they started to feed on it. I had to take the JD gator and run over some of it to make shooting lanes as it was to tall to shoot thru from the blind.

[Dutch]

And we are often told they won't eat it if it gets stemmy.

If there are a lot of deer, they'll eat it, even if stemmy.

[cspot]

They started hitting it good about the 2nd week of October. The started eating along the edge of it and would strip the leaves off of it. They wouldn't feed very long though (about 10 minutes) and then they would go feed in the rest of the field. By rifle season all that was left was the stubble, but they still ate it as well. When the snow got on they hit that stubble really hard until it finally turned brown.

Here is a pic of a fawn in October who was eating in it, but then went out into the field. When the fawns were feeding in it in October from the ground blind all you could see of them was their head when they raised it up.



Here is a pic of it in the winter. It was funny to watch the deer feed on the stubble because they would turn their head to the side and really chomp on it. THey were pretty loud.