Harvest Management of Red Clover (2024)

FAQs

What is the best way to harvest red clover? ›

When harvesting red clover flower for personal consumption, cut the stem above the leaf growth. After cutting the stem from the plant, you'll want to remove any remaining stem from the flower itself. Cut leaves. Leaves may be cut from the stem in clumps of three.

Red clover should be seeded at the rate of 12-14 lbs/a. Best clover stands result from seeding the small grain at 50-75% of the usual rate (1-1.5 bu/a). To reduce competition to clover during establishment, harvest the small grain as silage at early heading.

Red clover that is spring seeded without a companion crop can usually be harvested twice in the year of establishment, provided that weeds are controlled. Some producers are taking three cuts during the year of establishment, but this requires high soil fertility and favorable weather conditions.

Red clover plants will typically live for two years in heavy or moist soils, but in sandy soils in the Deep South, they normally act like an annual. Red clover is usually grown with a perennial grass, particularly tall fescue, orchardgrass, or dallisgrass.

If you have medium red clover, you can safely mow three to four times per growing season, typically every 35-40 days. If you have mammoth red clover, you can only cut it once per season. To prevent plant damage, make sure you are cutting on the highest mower setting.

if you put them in a jar while still moist. There are many easy ways to dry herbs effectively. My herbal drying area at the farmhouse and fresh clover blossoms. I use a collection of old window screens and vintage tulip bulb trays as drying racks.

Harvesting red clover at 40% bloom results in forage quality that is lower than forages cut at 20% bloom or bud stage. Maximum nutrient yields are obtained by harvesting red clover when the plants are between bud stage and 20% bloom.

For peak N contribution, kill red clover at about mid-bloom in spring of its second season. If you can't wait that long, kill it earlier to plant field corn or early vegetables.

Powdered herb (available in capsules): 40 to 160 mg per day, or 28 to 85 mg of red clover isoflavones. Tincture (1:5, 30% alcohol): 60 to 100 drops (3 to 5 mL), 3 times per day; may add to hot water as a tea. Fluid Extract (1:1): 1 mL, 3 times per day; may add to hot water as a tea.

Clover suppresses weeds, prevents pests, and does not require herbicides or pesticides.

Will red clover reseed itself? ›

Red clover is a short-lived perennial that grows quickly and drops its seed, allowing it to come back every year. If you don't want to wait for reseeding, you can collect the seeds yourself from the flower head and plant them.

Phosphate and potash fertilizers can be top-dressed to established stands on an annual basis. The suggested rates of these two nutrients can also be broadcast and incorporated before seeding. This management practice may help in achieving a satisfactory stand.

Red clover can be seeded at 4 to 6 pounds per acre and ladino clover at 2 to 3 pounds per acre.

Red clover can be an excellent green manure that fixes nitrogen, suppresses weeds, and increases corn yields.

Quail, grouse, wild turkey, partridge, marmot, and woodchuck (especially when alfalfa is in short supply), prefer leaves, seeds, and sometimes the whole plant. Songbirds eat clover seeds. Small animals such as squirrels, mice, and gophers enjoy flower pods and foliage, and deer browse on the entire plant.

Red clover is a perennial herb that commonly grows wild in meadows throughout Europe and Asia, and has been naturalized to grow in North America. The red flowers at the end of the branched stems are usually dried for therapeutic use.

Red clover can be infused in hot water to make a delicious herbal tea. To make, pour hot water over 1-3 teaspoons of red clover, and let steep for 10-15 minutes. This tea has a natural light sweetness to it, but you can add honey if desired. Because the flowers are edible, you can also use them to brighten up a salad.

It's easy to mow, but clover won't need that often. And after mowing, clover lawns will quickly recover and “fluff” back up within hours or days. If left unmown, clover will bloom like crazy with flowers that attract pollinators–several species of bees are particularly drawn to white clover flowers.

Recent studies in New York showed that for first cutting of red clover it took 24-30 hours for traditional narrow swaths to dry down enough so it could be ensiled (30% dry matter).