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Ingredient

Crimson clover

Trifolium incarnatum

Also known as: Trifolium incarnatum

Annual leguminous cover crop — fixes ~70–150 lb N/acre when terminated at full bloom, blooms a stunning crimson-red in late spring (a major early-season pollinator resource), tolerates moderate winter cold (Zone 6+ overwinters reliably), and breaks down quickly to release N to the following crop. The right ingredient when a winter cover needs to deliver substantial nitrogen to a heavy-feeding spring vegetable crop (corn, brassicas, cucurbits). Seeded September in temperate climates at 20–30 lb/acre; terminated by mowing or rolling at full bloom (mid-to-late May).

Inputs / outputs

  • Seeding: 20–30 lb/acre, drilled or broadcast then raked, late August through mid-September in temperate zones
  • Cold tolerance: reliably winter-hardy to USDA Zone 6; marginal in Zone 5; not for Zone 4
  • Bloom: late April to mid-May (timing of N release determined by termination at bloom)
  • N fixed: 70–150 lb/acre at [[full-bloom|full bloom]] (varies with biomass)
  • Termination: mow + light tillage, roller-crimping at [[full-bloom|full bloom]] for [[no-till-farming|no-till]], or winter-kill in colder zones

Solves / unlocks

  • Substantial spring N delivery to following heavy-feeder crop
  • Early-spring pollinator resource (bumblebees, mason bees, honeybees)
  • Erosion control on overwintered fields
  • Weed suppression through dense canopy
  • Soil-organic-matter increase from biomass breakdown

Constraints

  • Cold-sensitive in deep-winter zones — pair with rye or rye+vetch for hardiness in Zone 5 and below.
  • Termination timing critical — terminate at [[full-bloom|full bloom]] (not seed set) for max N and to avoid reseeding becoming a weed.
  • Inoculate if the field hasn’t grown clovers before — without rhizobia, no N fixation.

Source

See also

Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.

  • Parallels: [[hairy-vetch]]
  • Member of: [[ingredient]]
  • Combines with: [[cereal-rye]] · [[rhizobia-inoculant]]

What links here, and how

Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.

Scientific

combines with

  • Cereal rye fall-seeded biculture; clover fixes N, rye produces biomass
  • Rhizobia inoculant Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifolii — clover/medic group
  • Tillage radish tri-mix: clover (N-fix) + radish (compaction) + rye (biomass) — the most-recommended cover-crop cocktail

contains

parallels

  • Hairy vetch both are winter legumes; vetch fixes more N but matures later and is harder to terminate

combines

6 inbound links · 4 outbound