Hybrid clover (in Latin - Trifolium hybridum L.) - a perennial meadow plant, which is an excellent honey plant: productivity from 1 hectare of plantings is 52-125 kg of beautiful aromatic honey.
The flowers of this type of clover are actively visited by bees due to the easy availability of nectar and brown pollen.
Hybrid clover: description
The plant is characterized by a core root that penetrates the soil to a depth of about 1 meter; while the main part of the root system is located at a depth of half a meter. The stems are hollow, slightly branching, rising at the base. Each plant has up to 8 aerial shoots with a height of about 40 cm, in cultivation - up to 1 meter. The leaves are triple, with jagged edges, rather firmly sitting on fairly long petioles, which increases the value of clover as a forage crop. Stipules leathery, ovoid, pale.
An inflorescence is a spherical head with numerous pale pink fragrant flowers (up to 3 cm in diameter), located on a long peduncle that comes from the leaf sinus. At the beginning of flowering, the corolla is pale in color, which subsequently turns into pale pink and turns brown when the hybrid clover fades. Small yellow seeds are flattened on both sides; the length of each of them is about 1 mm.
Hybrid clover territory
Hybrid pink clover - a meadow plant, undemanding to soil composition, but feeling best on neutral lands. Widely distributed in the European part of Russia and the Far East. It is found along river banks, among artisanal stands, in meadows. After mowing, it grows poorly enough. It is winter-hardy, resistant to close distribution of groundwater and soil wetting, as it is a moisture-loving crop. The highest yields are obtained when grown in drained swamps. Hybrid clover (Latin calls it Trifolium hybridum L.) is used to improve pasture by sowing along with cereals.
Prefers well-lit areas on which it is magnificently developed; negative for shading. Thanks to nodules with nitrogen-fixing microorganisms on the roots, it increases the nitrogen content in the soil (many times better than meadow clover).
Breeding
Hybrid clover propagates exclusively by seed and blooms 2-3 years after sowing. It blooms and ripens from May to September. Plant life is 6 years. One instance is capable of producing up to several hundred seeds, in particularly productive years with 1 sq. Km. meters you can get up to 9 thousand seeds.
In the first year, only a small part of the crumbled seeds germinates. The rest, called "hard seeds", has the property of maintaining its viability for a very long time and grows gradually, over a long period of time.
The value of hybrid clover as a feed crop
The green mass of hybrid clover, grown since the 18th century, is considered a nutritious fodder crop - the basis of gentle hay. The protein content in the aerial part of the plant is the same as that of meadow clover, fiber is much less.
The first mowing is done to feed livestock or to fertilize the soil. After mowing, clover grows hard, so the second crop mowing is 3 times less than the first. A crop of two cuts, subject to good grass stand with 1 hectare, is about 65 centners. In field crop rotation, hybrid clover is almost replaced by a meadow crop variety.
Sowing clover is recommended in combination with cereals. The plant will not lie down and is easy to mow. The seeding rate is 6-8 kilograms per 1 hectare, seeding depth - up to 1.0 cm.
Varieties of Clover Hybrid: Description
Hybrid clover is characterized by high feed value, but because of the bitter taste, it is better to feed such a plant to livestock in combination with cereals. Varieties recommended for cultivation: Luzhanin, Kurtsevsky, Frigate, Faley, Krasnoufimsky 4, Lighthouse.
Kurtsevsky grade. Bred at the experimental station in Arkhangelsk, characterized by a soft, pubescent stem of medium and strong branching, elongated oval leaves, loose rounded inflorescences. Successfully tested in several Russian regions. The average yield of dry mass was:
- in the Volga-Vyatka region - 38.6 t / ha;
- in the East Siberian District - 31.5 c / ha;
- in the Central Black Earth Region - 105.0 c / ha.
The growing season from germination in the spring to the first mowing varies from 65 to 108 days. Pests and diseases do not show interest in such a plant.
Faley. The bush is light green in color, slightly pubescent, dilapidated. The leaves are characterized by an elliptical and ovoid form, weak pubescence, softness. Inflorescences are pink-white, friable. The variety is mid-season, hay-pasture direction of use, unstable to clover cancer - a fungal disease of the root system.
Lighthouse. Grown for grazing and haying. The bushes are semi-sprawling, about 1 meter high. The leaves are green, without a pattern, with serrated edges. Wedge-shaped stipules, head - pink inflorescence.
Frigate. Semi-spreading bush of early ripening. The average yield of dry aboveground mass is 41.4 c / ha. The growing season is about 64 days, for the ripening of seeds it will take 117 days. Winter-hardy, to an average degree, can be affected by root rot, anthracnose, powdery mildew.
