Table of contents:
- Direction of the impact of different green manure crops
- How to get the most out of green manure crops
- Agrotechnics
- And further…
Video: Siderat Are Friendly Helpers. Agrotechnics. Photo
2024 Author: Ava Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 00:23
The benefits of green fertilizers cannot be overstated. They improve the structure of the soil, enrich it with nutrients, saturate it with nitrogen, stop erosion processes, suppress the growth of weeds, the reproduction of pests and diseases, promote the active life of earthworms and beneficial microorganisms … And all this with minimal labor and financial investments! It is for this reason that green manure is more and more talked about and more and more recommended for use. However, as with any case, their application has different sides, which would be not only interesting, but also useful to consider.
Direction of the impact of different green manure crops
When deciding what to sow in your beds as green manure, you should not follow the “random” path, because each crop used as green fertilizer carries features that can enhance one or another effect of improving the soil.
So, if there is a need to prevent beds from scab, nematodes, various kinds of rot and wireworm, white mustard, oil radish, rapeseed, oats and marigolds will be an excellent choice.
On heavy soils, they will work well as loosening agents - annual phacelia, hornbeam, radish, oats, vetch, rye, mustard, rapeseed and buckwheat.
For the "two in one" effect (loosening and enrichment with minerals) legumes are good - they not only saturate the upper layers of the soil with phosphorus and nitrogen, but also help to improve its structure.
Buckwheat, vetch, alfalfa and phacelia are also grown to obtain a large amount of vegetative mass used for mulching.
Forage beans are sown to reduce soil acidity.
And strongly aromatic crops (marigolds, lupine, sweet clover, phacelia, rapeseed and white mustard) also in order to scare away pests from the beds.
How to get the most out of green manure crops
The first thing to start with, considering the principles of growing and using green manure, is that these crops can and should be grown throughout the season without leaving the beds empty. Since the timing of their planting is not limited, they can sow the land in early spring, at the end of the spring season, in summer and after the main harvest.
It is necessary to cut green manure in the budding phase. It is during this period that the plants do not yet have a rigid stem and are able to decompose well. Moreover, their roots are by no means dug up, and the vegetative mass is left on the surface of the earth as mulch.
Cutting of green manure should be done two weeks before planting the main crops. This allows you to avoid excessive accumulation of colins in the soil (root secretions harmful to plants), to wash out those that have accumulated, and makes it possible to decompose the residues of the root system remaining in the ground, which significantly improves the structure of the fertile layer.
If green manure is used with embedding in soil, then it is necessary to plow them on a lip no more than 8 cm on heavy soils and 12-15 cm on light soils. At the same time, cutting of green fertilizer can also occur at the time of flowering - a coarser green mass gives a greater yield of organic matter, a younger one - nitrogen. Planting of the main crops after such application is carried out no earlier than 2-4 weeks, depending on the maturity of the stems of the green manure embedded in the soil.
In regions with late return frosts, green manure is also used as a living curtain against frost. To do this, seedlings of vegetables are planted directly on green manure, and after the threat of low temperatures has passed the green fertilizers are cut and used as mulch.
Green manure is also good where there is a struggle against soil erosion. Sown with a dense carpet, they prevent not only leaching, but also weathering of the fertile layer.
Green manure crops are also used to suppress weeds. To do this, they sow problem areas before planting the main crops. At the same time, it is good to alternate types of green fertilizer, thereby affecting various aspects of improving soil indicators.
Agrotechnics
- Sowing of green manure can be done at different times, depending on the need.
- When choosing a green manure culture, the predecessor must be taken into account (crucifers do not sow after crucifers, etc.).
- When sowing seeds, the method of continuous scattering is used, with obvious thickening (moreover, more in spring, somewhat less in autumn).
- Watering of green fertilizers is carried out with a focus on the natural needs of the crop, as when growing it for the main crop.
- For faster decomposition of the cut green mass of green manures, mulch treatment with the "Shining" preparation is good.
And further…
When deciding to grow green manure crops, you need to know that the maximum effect from their use does not appear immediately, but for 2-3 years, and lasts up to 5 years.
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