What it is
Crimson Clover (Trifolium incarnatum) is in the Fabaceae (Legume) family. A gorgeous nitrogen-fixing cover for fall — crimson blooms feed bees, then it tills in to feed the soil.
How to grow it
It wants full sun, water it moderate, and give it average soil. Target a soil pH around 6.0–7.0. Space plants about Broadcast apart. Expect roughly Fall sow. Cool-season annual.
How it's used
Crimson Clover is used: cover crop; cut before seed.
🔎 How to identify it
- Three-leaflet clover leaves
- Deep crimson flower spikes
- Soft hairy stems
Edibility
How to grow & propagate crimson clover
Everything I've worked out about starting this one, keeping it alive through a Texas year, and turning one plant into many — free.
How to propagate crimson clover
Legumes resent transplanting — that taproot wants to go straight down — so sow them right where they'll grow once the soil has warmed. Soak hard-coated seed overnight to speed germination. As a bonus, this whole family pulls nitrogen out of the air and banks it in the soil, so wherever you grow them you're feeding next season's crop.
Growing crimson clover in Texas
Give it full sun and average soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.
This is a cool-season crop. On the Texas Gulf Coast that means your real windows are fall and late winter, not summer — sow as the heat breaks in September–October and again in late winter, and you'll harvest through our mild winters while the rest of the country is frozen out.
Keep moisture even, especially while it's young — deep, less-frequent soaks build better roots than a daily sprinkle.
Harvesting
Figure on roughly fall sow before you're harvesting. The part you're after: forage (not a table crop).
Making more for free
Every seed we sell is open-pollinated, which means you can save your own from the best plants and it'll grow true next year. Let a few of your strongest plants finish and go to seed, dry it fully, and store it cool and dark. That's the whole point of heirlooms — buy once, grow forever.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.