Clover seed longevity?

[Danllan]

Are any knowledgeable people - maybe @Great In Grass ? - out there able to advise on the longevity of clover seed in cool dry storage? Thanks in advance.

 

[Bury the Trash]

a long time

 

[milkloss]

I had some knocking around for at least 6-8 years maybe. Ended up throwing the odd handful into a permanent grass mix and it grew like stink. I'm not a fan of modern clovers, they just don't seem as persistent or easy growing.

 

[andybk]

will last a long time , just hope the acre of pelleted lucerne seed i was given yesterday will last as long wont be planted till next spring at earliest

 

[Danllan]

Thanks for those; I've done a search for info' on this and not found anything off much help. I think I remember my father telling me that clover will be fine when grass has gone off. Anyway, I've got some that is a couple of years old and was intending to use it this year, but plans have changed and it won't be used now until next year at the earliest, so a few years shelf life is very welcome.

@andybk I've no experience of pelleted Lucerne, but we had the loose seed in Zim and it kept well for years in a cool store there despite an obviously higher mean temperature than here.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I found a bag that Dad used to fill in pugged areas when I was still a teenager, in the "dog-tucker freezer" of all places, after he died.
Used some late April and got a good strike from 20+ year old seed- have heard a day or 2 in the freezer will 'reset' some seeds- but that could be a wives' tale too.
If it can pass through a baler, ensile, go through a ruminant and still germ: I don't think a couple of years in cool storage will slow it down.

 

[Great In Grass]

A high germ non treated clover seed kept in the right conditions will stay viable for many years, never really asked the question as we don't keep it that long but I would have thought up to 10 years?

Treated Lucerne is something completely different, the seed may be okay but the inoculant looses it's effectiveness over a short period of time which then leaves the new seedlings exposed to disease.

 

[Great In Grass]

will last a long time , just hope the acre of pelleted lucerne seed i was given yesterday will last as long wont be planted till next spring at earliest

Do a germ test prior to planting.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Yes, do a germ test! I meant to on the seed I mentioned but used it all first

 

[Danllan]

Yes, do a germ test! I meant to on the seed I mentioned but used it all first

I consider myself reasonably intelligent but... it is remarkable the number of times I have meant to do something before, and then remembered immediately afterwards, and that is the really annoying thing, it is always 'just' after remembering would have been useful.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I consider myself reasonably intelligent but... it is remarkable the number of times I have meant to do something before, and then remembered immediately afterwards, and that is the really annoying thing, it is always 'just' after remembering would have been useful.

It's fairly common practice around here, too... I was suitably impressed at it coming away, as I grabbed the bag on the way up to shift the calves and threw handfuls over the fence as they followed me along.
I have given some thistly fences a bit of a burnoff with hot salt, and then "clovered" them, because I hate them growing up through the wires and ticking... I see goodly amounts now poking through all the dead grass and collapsed thistle.
The high tech drill used was an old flour sifter from mum's kitchen.

 

[Muck Spreader]

It's fairly common practice around here, too... I was suitably impressed at it coming away, as I grabbed the bag on the way up to shift the calves and threw handfuls over the fence as they followed me along.
I have given some thistly fences a bit of a burnoff with hot salt, and then "clovered" them, because I hate them growing up through the wires and ticking... I see goodly amounts now poking through all the dead grass and collapsed thistle.
The high tech drill used was an old flour sifter from mum's kitchen.

What's hot salt and how do you use it?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

What's hot salt and how do you use it?

My organic weedkiller of choice, as much ag salt as you can fit in a tank of hot water, sprayed on a hot summer's day... have nailed a lot of gorse with it, but very unselective, of course. Handgun out the window at about 11km/h, just enough to knock the grass and weeds, then back in a month or so with the flour sifter full of clover it's all pretty high tech around here

 

[Muck Spreader]

My organic weedkiller of choice, as much ag salt as you can fit in a tank of hot water, sprayed on a hot summer's day... have nailed a lot of gorse with it, but very unselective, of course. Handgun out the window at about 11km/h, just enough to knock the grass and weeds, then back in a month or so with the flour sifter full of clover it's all pretty high tech around here

Thanks, might have a go at that. I take it the salt in the soil doesn't impede the germination of the clover. What clover do you generally use red or white or anything?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Thanks, might have a go at that. I take it the salt in the soil doesn't impede the germination of the clover. What clover do you generally use red or white or anything?

I don't put much at the soil, if I can help it, for that exact reason- but it certainly gives it a good knock.
Probably a small leafed white clover is best for a ground cover, what a kiwi would call "sheep farmer clover" as that is largely what it's designed to do, be a low dense cover.
In pasture though, any clover is grand IMO-
here we have reds, whites, persian, and a little balansa clover in the newer paddocks- each one fills a little niche and at a different part of the season.

 

[Muck Spreader]

I don't put much at the soil, if I can help it, for that exact reason- but it certainly gives it a good knock.
Probably a small leafed white clover is best for a ground cover, what a kiwi would call "sheep farmer clover" as that is largely what it's designed to do, be a low dense cover.
In pasture though, any clover is grand IMO-
here we have reds, whites, persian, and a little balansa clover in the newer paddocks- each one fills a little niche and at a different part of the season.

That's good news, the small leaf white is a lot cheaper here than the larger leafed varieties which are extremely expensive. I don't think we can get Balansa clover or it's called something else @le bon paysan ?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

That's good news, the small leaf white is a lot cheaper here than the larger leafed varieties which are extremely expensive. I don't think we can get Balansa clover or it's called something else @le bon paysan ?

There is a Balansa clover thread on here, it is really quite unique in how it grows
@Kevtherev and @scholland have been growing a little.
I think it would just about climb an electric fence from what I've seen!
Just stick with a wee white one, it grows wild here, all my yard grows it, it's much better than weeds IMO. I "green-mulch" the gardens with clover, for the same reasons, retention and prevention keeps the bees here

 

[neilo]

That's good news, the small leaf white is a lot cheaper here than the larger leafed varieties which are extremely expensive. I don't think we can get Balansa clover or it's called something else @le bon paysan ?

Small leaved white is indeed cheap, and it's about the only clover that will survive continuous heavy grazing with sheep (such as when set stocked). However, it yields next to nothing compared to medium and larger leaved varieties. They would be a much better choice in any system other than set stocked sheep IMO.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Yes too true- not sure what the use is? For food or for keeping weeds off fences?
It contributes beggar all feed but great for keeping out invasive weeds