Cover Crop - White Clover (Trifolium repens)

Sustainable Agriculture in Hawai'i info block

White Clover

Trifolium repens

Click here for a downloadable, printable pdf on White Clover.

Also known as: Dutch White, New Zealand White, Ladino
Long-lived perennial or winter annual legume

Uses

Nitrogen source (80-200 lb. N/ac)
Biomass/organic matter source (Dry Matter: 2,000-6,000 lbs/ac/yr)
Living mulch crop (shade tolerant, withstands traffic, low profile, survives repeated mowing)
Companion crop
Soil protection
Attracts pollinators
Forage crop
In Hawai`i, it should be used at upper elevations (from 1500-7000 ft.)

Photo: USDA NRCS

Plant Highlights

EXCELLENT for animal grazing (production, nutritional quality & palatability)
VERY GOOD for providing erosion control, for suppressing weeds
GOOD for increasing organic matter and improving soil structure
FAIR for taking up & storing excess N, for quick growth and establishment, for providing lasting residue.

Cultural Traits

Good heat tolerance
Good drought tolerance
Very good shade tolerance
Very good flood tolerance
Good tolerance to low fertility
pH range 6.0-7.0

Planting
Planting depth: 1/4 - 1/2 inch
Inoculant Type: red clover, white clover
Seeding Method

Drilled: Seed at 3-9 lb./A
Broadcast: Seed at 5-14 lb./A

Seed Cost: $3.10 /lb
Seed Availability: Readily available

Cultivars

Cultivars commonly recommended by the Hawai`i Natural Resources Conservation Service include: ‘Haifa’ ‘Grasslands’ ‘Huia’ ‘New Zealand’.

Mix: with annual ryegrass, red clover

Soil Improvements

Fair for loosening subsoil
Fair at releasing P and K
Very good at loosening topsoil

Pest Control

Poor for suppressing nematodes
Poor for disease suppression
Good allelopathic properties
Very good weed suppression
Good for attracting beneficial insects

Management Attributes

Excellent trafficability
Establishment and growth good for short windows

Notes

White clover is an excellent choice for a "living mulch" cropping system. It is shade tolerant, withstands traffic, grows fairly low, and survives repeated mowing. However, it must be managed to avoid competitionwith the cash crop for nutrients, light and moisture. Some control methods include: hand mowing/in-row mulch, partial rotary tillage, and use of crop shading. Chemical suppression is difficult.
White clover insect pests include the potato leafhopper (Empoasca fabae), meadow spittlebug (Philaenis spumarius), clover leaf weevil (Hypera punctata), alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica) and Lygus bug (Lygus spp.).
White clover can be killed by chisel or moldboard plowing, field cultivating, undercutting, rotary tilling or using a suitable herbicide (ex: glyphosate). Extremely close mowing and partial tillage will suppress white clover, but not kill it.

Uses in the Pacific Region
No information is available in this database on this topic.

Uses in Hawai`i
The Hawai`i Natural Resources Conservation Service Technical Guide includes White Clover (cv. ‘Haifa’ ‘Grasslands’ ‘Huia’ ‘New Zealand’). Their specification describes White Clover as follows:

Minimum seeding rates of 10 lbs. pure live seed/acre;
pH range from 5.5-7.0;
Inoculant group: clover;
Medium maintenance required;
Fair shade tolerance;
Fair drought tolerance;
Rainfall range of 35-50 inches;
Medium rate of establishment;
Elevation range from 1500-7000 ft.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Using clovers as living mulches to boost yields, suppress pests, and augment spiders in a broccoli agroecosystem by Cerruti Hooks, Raju Pandey, Marshall Johnson

UC Davis On-line Cover Crop Index:
http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/cgi-win/ccrop.exe/show_crop_42

FAO Web Site:
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGP/AGPC/doc/pasture/Mainmenu.htm

REFERENCES
1998. Managing Cover Crops Profitably, 2nd ed. Sustainable Agriculture Network, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, USA. pp. 212.

Online excerpts: http://www.sare.org/mccp2/

Evans, Dale O., Joy, Robert J., & Chia, C.L., 1988. Cover Crops for Orchards in Hawaii. Hawaii Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, United Stated. 16pp.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Hawai`i Field Office Technical Guide, Section IV, Code 340 "Cover and Green Manure Crop" May 1992.

If you have used this plant as a cover crop in the Pacific Region, please email us with COMMENTS and FEEDBACK about this plant description so we can further refine this educational resource.

Last updated on 8/10/2007