Ok, so early spring I frost seeded my clover. It had been a mix of clover with some strips of brassicas, winter peas etc in the middle. The clover was coming in fairly well. Then came rain after rain after rain. I wasn't able to get in there to mow the upcoming grass in the plot due to the moisture. It is now drying out some. BUT the grass has gone insane (some already seeding out) and at this point has mostly fallen over. The majority of the clover underneath looks good in about 70% of the plot. The middle where the grass got REALLY bad not so much. So, I made the call ( right or wrong ) to go ahead and spray the plot yesterday. I made an effort to not spray the areas where the clover was doing well but focused on the grass and other weeds. I assume at least a portion of the clover will take a hit but wishfully thinking maybe not all is lost. I plan to go in and mow later in the week and try to get the mess off the rest of the clover. I guess at this point I am wondering if I am just pissing in the wind..... Should I just go back to zero and start fresh? Any chance it can still rebound?
Good question. I had this same issue with foxtail taking over a small clover plot last year. It was bad enough in spots that it looked like there for mini-clumps of grass islands spread throughout the plot. By the time I sprayed with Cleth, they were about 28"-32" tall in spots. I sprayed in July, and again in late August to hit a few stragglers. The clover flushed out well, and this year is doing excellent, with little grass competition.
Matt did you mow down that tall stuff after spraying or just let it run its course? My concern is with the way it was all beginning to layover was that it would surely choke out the clover at that point.
I think you would have 100000x more luck using cleth than trying to selectively nuke with Gly. Edit: The only issue I see is that cleth works best when the grasses are not mature. It may not work as well now but it should still help a lot.
I don't fear weeds and grasses as much as the next person because to an extent deer will eat just about anything...however sounds like in some spots they are overtaking. One thing we've done in the past with decent success even when things are desperately wet is use a weed eater to spot hit the areas the clover isn't beating out the weeds/grasses. Granted this can take some time but it truly helps kill back the competition and the clover to flourish and you don't have to wait till things dry out completely. Again though this is on a smaller scale possibly than what we're talking about here.
Yes, I know, BUT with the grass being as far along as it was coupled with other weeds in the mix I went with the gly. That and I already had 15gal in the sprayer lol
Ty you know the lil pocket back behind the triticale by the ladder stand.... lets just say it went from pretty lil shoots of clover to knee deep grass faster than I could do anything about it. I considered a weedeater approach but I think I then would have also had to rake it to remove the litter as the grass had gotten that tall and thick especially in the middle. I REALLY wanted to keep that corner in clover. Worse case scenario I will go a different route after the triticale comes out and I plant the big field.
I still think it is a great spot for clover...cleth would have been better but it is over and done. We've had luck with planting clover/chicory in with some winter rye or oats in the fall plantings...then seeding over again with more chicory and clover the following spring, if you truly have to re-start.
Yep, mine required two hits in some spots, but it did get it done. I don't think mine was as bad as I'm picturing yours to be, though.
I should have taken a pic... lol I was truly amazed at the rate of which it had taken over in 2-3 weeks.
I would have clipped it high, waited a week and sprayed it with Arrow (cleth) then went back and mowed it shorter in two weeks.
I've always used Cleth and Crop oil in my clover plots with tremendous success. Sounds like you have your hands full though. If you could of gotten in there with a small tractor with a 3pt brush hog and just rode it high you may have been okay. I don't know how well cleth would do if it was 2'+ tall and stemming out. Def check you soil if your burnt it up bad and need to restart.
The average food plotter i'd never tell to use glyphosate on clovers. If you use more than 24-32 oz per acre your flirting with danger. Why? Cause most people i know don't know exactly how much water they are spraying on per acre. I recommend volunteer at 8-10 oz if your issue is annual grasses and if the issue is perennial grasses, use 16 oz per acre. At $60 per gallon your looking at $4-8 per acre and it's safe. Make sure you use crop oil with it. Another option is aggressively clipping. I have some trials where i won't spray anything on the forages. I have already clipped as the weeds were about to seed out and i'll come back in in another 3 weeks or so. Rule number 1 with chemicals is use the right rate, so as to get effective kill and to reduce the chance of weed resistance. Then rotate chemistries every 2-3 years.
TJ, anyword on this? If you really do restart I'd do something like I've done or Buckeyehntr5 has done this fall to get the clover resurging come next year...http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php/72447-quot-Patient-quot-Clover-is-the-best-clover
Ty the results are actually falling into my favor. My selective spraying did well and the clover is still flourishing where it was. However the middle strip is a loss. I attempted to mow BUT we got more rain (3.5") and both of my roads in were flooded over. So HOPEFULLY they will be dry enough today. I'm gonna mow the whole patch, then disc the center and a strip about 40yds wide down the backside of the big plot along the creek. Plan to get forage beans in that ASAP. This weekend if possible. Then later I may overseed the clover some more. Once the Triticale is cut, the balance of the 5 acres not in beans will go into either awnless wheat or an awnless variety of triticale. Should provide a fairly rounded food source, at least for with what I have to work with at the moment.
