Plant enrichment. Plants for plants: green manures, or green fertilizers

Tells agronomist Victoria Demidova.

Plants take nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other elements from the earth. The lion's share of them goes to the formation of fruits, tubers and other crops, which we take away from the site, that is, they do not return to the soil. So whether you like it or not, you need to replenish reserves in the fall and spring. For example, applying manure. But what if for some reason this is impossible?

Let's sow wealth

You can enrich the soil with the help of “green manure” (green manure). This is the name of herbaceous plants that are grown in order to be incorporated into the soil in the fall.

Top candidates

Legume green manures (clover, alfalfa, lupine, vetch, peas and others) are well suited for this role - they are able to fix nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form accessible to plants.

Some of them (lupine) are also able to transform the phosphorus contained in the soil or mineral fertilizers into a more “edible” state. True, some legumes (clover and alfalfa) will give a significant fertilizing effect only if they are grown for several years in a row. But common vetch gives good results in one season.

In general, legume green manure can compete with manure in nitrogen content, but loses in potassium and phosphorus. But this can be fixed: when growing green manure plants, you need to fertilize them with potassium and phosphorus mineral fertilizers - then the effect will be identical. The benefit from them will be maximum if you grow more green mass: for this, green manure requires good care. That is, careful preparation of the site before sowing, fertilizing and watering will definitely pay off.

With all the advantages of legume green manures, they have a drawback - the protein-rich mass decomposes too quickly in the soil, and organic matter does not accumulate much. Therefore, it is more effective to use a mixture of green manure crops as a “green fertilizer”. A tandem of a legume (vetch or peas) and a cereal (oats, ryegrass or winter rye) works well. The fact is that plant residues of cereal crops decompose more slowly and contribute to the accumulation of organic matter in the soil. In addition, they, like a sponge, retain nitrogen obtained from legumes.

The grass turns...

The speed at which green manure plants become the “richness” of the soil depends on various factors. We can regulate some of them. Plant parts decompose most quickly in the soil if:

First chop them into pieces up to about 5 cm long.

Dig at the optimal time and to the appropriate depth. In heavy clay soil, it is better to plant green manure at a depth of 10-12 cm in the fall, and in sandy soil at a depth of 12-18 cm in the spring.

Add some manure or bird droppings.

Water in dry weather.

Do we combine fertilizers?

At your summer cottage you can find the best use for both manure (bird droppings) and green manure. Since green fertilizer acts slowly, it is worth regularly dedicating special areas for it. You can start with uncultivated or depleted ones. Gradually involve intensive beds in this process, where green manure will not only be a fertilizer, but also an intermediate crop that will interrupt the development cycle of diseases and pests.

Manure or bird droppings are a good plant food that can be applied precisely at the right time and in the right place. Fortunately, some types of such fertilizers are sold in small packages.

Manure or greens?

Maybe manure is not needed at all and you can get by with grass? In fact, both of these fertilizers contain essential nutrients that are easily absorbed by plants (or promote their accumulation). They help enrich the soil with organic matter, promote the accumulation of humus, heal its microflora, and improve its structure. But each type has its own advantages and disadvantages - choose according to your circumstances (see table).

Types of organics

Based on the duration of the growing season, green manure crops can be divided into three groups:

• with a short growing season (45-60 days) - phacelia, white mustard, oilseed radish;
• with an average growing season (60-80 days) - peas, angustifolia lupine, seradella, sunflower, etc.;
• with a long growing season (more than 80 days) - yellow lupine, broad beans and the like.

Just recently they didn’t even know such a word, but now large farms sow green manure on thousands of hectares, and gardeners on several hundred square meters. And they are doing the right thing - how can you not sow them if they are so beneficial?

First, let’s define what exactly is called “green manure.” This is any plant that is not grown for the purpose of producing a crop. The most famous green manure crops are mustard, oilseed radish, rapeseed, vetch, lupine, peas, clover, alfalfa, phacelia, buckwheat, barley, oats, rye (rhyto).

By the way, traditionally rye is very popular among gardeners, but it is hardly possible to find a more inconvenient green manure.

Why grow green manure?

Green manure crops are excellent fertilizers. Surprisingly, the organic matter that is formed from the combination of sunlight, air and water is much more effective than manure. In addition, green manure accumulates nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and many other macro- and microelements - and it costs you practically nothing!

The root system of plants deeply loosens the soil, providing excellent water and air exchange. If one day you hear the word “bioplow”, know that it’s about green manure.

Many green manures are excellent honey plants. In addition, root secretions, for example, mustard, repel the larva of the cockchafer, wireworm, and mole cricket. In general, the phytosanitary properties of green manure deserve a separate large article.

It is generally accepted that green manure should be sown in the fall. This is correct, but it is much wiser to sow any free piece of land with green manure in early spring - this way there is less weeding, and mulch is always at hand. If you have harvested radishes or onions, immediately sow phacelia or oats. They dug up early potatoes and immediately put mustard in their place.

The biggest and saddest mistake gardeners make is when they plow or dig up green manure in the fall. It can be assumed that in this case 80% of the green manure benefit is lost.

Let them remain until spring - when the snow melts, you are unlikely to find them, and the soil will be so loose that plowing is not needed.

So know: a modern garden from a good owner goes green under the snow! Sow green manure - and you will have excellent harvests!

Growing green manure is the best way to increase soil fertility!

Any plant improves the condition of the soil. In its underground parts it creates a system of root tubules and supplies food to soil inhabitants. The above-ground part shades the soil and protects it from erosion and blowing away, and, dying, turns into a source of useful compounds.

Based on these properties, many plants can be used to restore soil fertility. Such plants are classified into a special group: green manure.

The growth and development of plants depends on the presence of 16 elements in the soil.

Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen are the main components of healthy soil.

In the second tier, of necessity, there are macroelements - nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; sulfur, calcium and magnesium are slightly less important.

Microelements needed in smaller quantities, but also affecting normal development, are iron, zinc, manganese, copper, boron, chlorine and molybdenum.

Adding animal fertilizers, blood and bone meal, lime, algae and kelp can compensate for the lack of essential elements and improve the pH balance of the soil, which affects the life of microorganisms.

One of the best ways to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil is by cultivating green manure plants.

Green manures are plants grown as organic fertilizer. Green manure can be considered any annual plants that are grown to restore soil fertility.

Green manures structure the soil: loose sandy soil is strengthened and made more cohesive, while heavy, clay soil, on the contrary, is loosened, facilitating the access of air and moisture.

They reduce the acidity of the soil, increase the activity of beneficial microflora, enrich the soil with organic matter, shading the surface of the earth, and prevent it from cracking under the rays of the sun.

They are sown in the spring before planting garden crops, in the summer instead of garden crops and in the fall after harvesting.

There are two ways to sow green manure.

In the first option, before sowing, the soil is loosened with a hoe or cultivator to a depth of 5-7 cm, then furrows are made and green manure seeds are sown, and the furrows are covered with soil using a hoe. This is usually done in spring and summer.

The second, autumn sowing method involves scattering the seeds and sprinkling them with a layer of compost (in this case it acts as autumn mulch).

TYPES OF GREEN PLANTS

They are quite diverse, but most of them are legumes and cereals.

Cereals contribute to the accumulation of humic substances in the soil and improve its structure. Nowadays you can find special green manure mixtures and monoculture kits on sale.

Vegetable peas enriches the soil with nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter, therefore it is used not only in individual plantings, but also as a ground cover plant under tall herbaceous crops and fruit trees.

Broad beans– a rich source of nitrogen, one of the best green manures for heavy clay and peaty-boggy soils. Beans reduce soil acidity. Since they are quite frost-resistant, in areas with mild winters they can be sown before winter. For spring and summer planting, you can use beans mixed with vetch and field peas.

Horned frog grows even on very heavy and poor soil, loosens the soil to a depth of 1.5 m and enriches it with nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium. Lyadvenets is an excellent forage grass, often used for landscaping because it is resistant to trampling. In spring and summer sowings, it is better to mix it with clover, alfalfa and other legumes.

Alfalfa has an exceptionally powerful root system (up to 3 m deep), enriches the soil with nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter. Alfalfa produces a large green mass (3 cuttings per season), therefore it is most often used as a forage plant.

Characterized by significant winter hardiness and drought resistance sweet clover, grows well in both sandy and clay soils. However, sweet clover does not like acidic and very wet soils. Therefore, its use in the north-west of European Russia is limited.

Clover Suitable for areas with good moisture. It is frost-resistant and is a good honey plant. You can use clover in the inter-rows of garden crops, where it grows without sowing for 2-3 years.

Suitable for developing poor sandy and podzolic soils with high acidity annual lupine, which accumulates nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the soil. This type of green manure is considered the best predecessor for strawberries.

An effective green manure is the popular vetch-oat mixture– legume-cereal. It enriches the soil with phosphorus and nitrogen, suppresses the growth of weeds, and loosens the soil well. It is also grown for the preparation of composts, liquid fertilizer, fertilizing, mulching the soil and protecting cultivated plants from pests and diseases. The vetch-oat mixture is sown in late April - early May, often even under fruit trees.

White mustard- also a good green manure. In addition to enriching the soil and suppressing the growth of weeds, it protects the area from wireworms, a potato pest. Mustard quickly forms a powerful root system more than 1 m long, and after cutting, the roots rot in 1.5-2 weeks, forming a network of channels for the movement of air and moisture to great depths. Mustard is sown in the fall (after harvesting) or in the spring (1 month before planting potatoes and vegetables). You can also sow mustard as a ground cover crop in the inter-rows of perennial fruit and berry crops to prevent weed growth and create channels.

Buckwheat Suitable for enriching soil with organic matter, phosphorus and potassium. It is especially recommended for poor, heavy soils, since its deep branched root system (up to 2 meters) significantly improves the soil structure. This is the best green manure for fruit crops and also an excellent honey plant. Buckwheat is suitable for both spring and summer planting.

Spring rape quickly forms a powerful root system more than 1 m deep, due to which it loosens dense soils well. It has fungicidal and bactericidal properties, enriches the soil with organic matter, phosphorus and sulfur.

Phacelia annual Suitable for almost all soils and wide climatic conditions. An excellent raising agent, it is a good precursor for most vegetable crops. The green mass of phacelia is an excellent food for animals. Due to the short growing season, phacelia can be sown several times during the season, accumulating a large mass of organic matter. And one of the unique properties of phacelia is that its nectar attracts many entomophages that destroy codling moths, leaf rollers, apple blossom beetles and other pests of garden and vegetable crops. The proximity of phacelia kills locusts, soil nematodes that attack potatoes and root crops, and wireworms disappear.

APPLICATION OF LEADERATES
The green mass of green manure plants is rich in nitrogen, proteins, starch, sugars, and microelements, so they are often traditionally used to plow the soil - as green fertilizer. In many agronomic manuals you can find the following recommendations: “Shortly before sowing the main crop, the grown green manure is plowed into the soil, thereby returning nutrients to it and thus enriching the soil with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.”

But is this use of green manure correct?

Firstly, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, living in symbiosis with higher plants, cannot exist freely in the soil and therefore immediately go into the cyst stage - that is, a dormant period, no longer enriching the soil with nitrogen. In this case there is no longer any particular benefit from them.

Secondly, green manure is grown for its root system: after mowing the tops, the roots of green manure rot and enrich the soil with humus, and a porous structure is created in the soil. Therefore, green manure cannot be dug up, as the channels in the soil will be destroyed.

Thirdly, if green manure has not been mowed for a long time, the coarsened stems rot poorly in the soil and can become a source of viral and fungal diseases for subsequent plantings.

And finally, fourthly, when green mass is plowed into the soil, the nitrogen content can become so high that the next crop in succession simply begins to “burn.”

Therefore, modern technology for using green manure includes the following rules.

When choosing a green manure plant, you need to consider what you want to get as a result of sowing it. Therefore, before sowing, it is necessary to carefully familiarize yourself with the technical characteristics of green manure.

In mixed plantings, green manure is planted in place of vegetables immediately after they are harvested. To prevent green manure from allowing weeds to grow, it is sown not in rows, but scattered and then covered with a rake.

Two weeks before planting the main crop, green manure should be cut off. This is determined by the fact that green manure, like any other plants, secrete poisons (colins) to suppress the growth of other plants. Two weeks before planting, the colins will have time to wash into the deep layers of the soil and disintegrate there.

After cutting, green manure tops are left on the soil surface. It decomposes and also forms humus in the soil and replenishes it with mineral elements.

If seedlings are to be planted in the beds, then the green manure is not cut off there, but the seedlings are planted directly in the green manure. Large holes (20-30 liters) are made in the garden bed and seedlings are planted, sprinkled with compost. Green manures smooth out temperature changes in the soil layer, thanks to which the seedlings take root better. Then the green manure is cut off and the soil in the same bed is mulched with it.

You cannot sow crops belonging to the same family right after each other. For example, cabbage or beets, after rapeseed or mustard was grown in this area, since they all belong to the cruciferous family and can transmit to their followers diseases inherent in their family.

Alternate green manure crops without letting the soil become empty. In one season, several generations of green manure can be grown on a free plot, as a result of which the soil will quickly restore fertility.

Green manure can be grown both before planting vegetables and after harvesting them. For example, after harvesting crops that greatly deplete the soil (cabbage, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkin), you can sow lupine, phacelia or rapeseed.

Do not allow green manure to become seeded, otherwise they will turn into weeds. They need to be cut off during budding before flowering, before a hard stem has formed. In addition, young plants decompose faster and release nitrogen.

Cut green manure with a flat cutter, cultivator or scythe, but you cannot dig up the root system, otherwise the point of sowing green manure (restoring humus and the porous structure of the soil) is lost.

Here is additional information about green manure:

The best restorers of poor soil fertility are legumes that accumulate a lot of nitrogen. In the Non-Black Earth Region this is one-year-old angustifolia lupine and two-year-old clover.

NARROW-LEAFED LUPINE grows 45-50 t/ha of greenery and the same number of roots in just 55-60 days from sowing. In this mass it is capable of accumulating up to 600 kg/ha of NPK: 200-360 kg of nitrogen, 180-240 kg of potassium and 50-60 kg of phosphorus. At the same time, lupine nitrogen is 70-80% fixed from the air, and in terms of digestibility it is twice as effective as manure nitrogen.

CLOVER two years old for two mowings it produces 70-80 t/ha of greenery and accumulates 25-35 t/ha of roots and waste (= up to 8 t/ha of dry organic matter). The entire biomass of the second mowing, embedded in the soil, is equal in organic matter to 30-35 t/ha of fresh litter manure, and surpasses manure in terms of the sum of its fertile effects.

The clover of the second year fixes 300-350 kg/ha of nitrogen, which is then released 1/3 per year. Only with post-mow residues, 100 kg/ha of nitrogen, 30 kg of phosphorus and 65 kg of potassium enter the soil.

In circulation is “clover 2 g.p. – barley – oats with clover undersowing”: average yield without fertilizers – 38 c/ha c.e., profitability – 180-190%, energy efficiency – up to 6.5-7.0.

TWO-YEAR-OLD MALOLUT– the main legume soil improver in the Black Earth Region and the Southern Federal District. Its powerful taproots are the main biomass and “biological plow”. Having broken through the plow sole, they go 2-2.5 m into the soil - twice as deep as clover and sainfoin. From there, sweet clover pulls out a lot of potassium and phosphorus.

Having increased to 25 tons of dry biomass, it accumulates up to 500-600 kg/ha of nitrogen, 200 kg of phosphorus and 400 kg of potassium - twice as much as clover. This food, with the addition of straw, is enough for three years of deficit-free balance.

ALFALFALNA SOWING in the Southern Federal District it is more efficient than clover, fixing 30-60% more nitrogen. Even mowed, it leaves up to 19 t/ha of biomass in the soil. The roots are almost the same “bioplow” as those of sweet clover.

In stubble crops, early ripening oilseed radish, white mustard, rapeseed, and tansy phacelia are effective.

Feed organic resources are inexhaustible. New, particularly effective forage grasses have been studied and introduced into cultivation - safflower and woad; perennials – eastern galega (goat's rue), comfrey, oriental sverbiga.

In 1988, in St. Petersburg, the hogweed variety “Otradnoe BIN-1”, which does not burn the skin, was created but never mastered.

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS. All green manures, and especially biennial ones, improve the environment in many ways.

They increase the biological activity and nitrogen fixation of the soil by 2-3 times.

They create a channel structure, improve permeability and porosity.

Shade, cover the soil with mulch and reduce unproductive moisture loss by half.

They reduce contamination by 40-50% and reduce the incidence of disease.

They accumulate 300-600 kg/ha of NPK, which is 2-5 times cheaper than mineral fertilizers and is absorbed within 2-3 years.

Together with straw, erosion and loss of humus are stopped.

It is simply impossible to take into account all the soil-forming effects of plants.

In 2012, the wonderful book “Manna from Heaven to the Garden” was published. Almighty sideration." Authors: Boris Andreevich Bublik and Vitaly Trofimovich Gridchin.

This book is easy to find on the Internet: it is available on request SIDERATS.
I strongly recommend that you find and read it to forget about chemicals and digging up the soil forever.

At the end of the book there is a useful table with the characteristics of some green manures.

In order not to weaken Siderata too much when mowing, they need to be mowed at a height of at least 10 cm - then the mown Siderata mulch can be used usefully, and the remains of the plant will continue to grow and develop.

Lawn grass is usually mowed well below 10 cm, but the main purpose of Lawns is to decorate the site, and not to restore and enrich the soil.

I invite everyone to speak out in

Use mulch from green manure plants, and the more nutritious, varied and “tastier” it is, the better it will be for us in the end - aren’t ripe bunches and ripened vines a worthy reward for?

Let's remember that fertilization is a process that increases the soil's ability to bear fruit.

And this means not only (and not even so much) an increase in the content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in it, but also organic matter, which ensures the activity of soil microflora and the supply of carbon to plants.

Plants for green manure

There are people who mulch literally everything on their property, including paths. A side effect of this approach is to get rid of the mole cricket - it does not live in cool, moist soil. But this is possible when there is a flooded meadow or abandoned neighbor’s plots behind the fence - mow and mulch. What if everyone around you is just as smart, but the nearest meadow or grove is several (tens) kilometers away? Where can I get good organic mulch?

Many people sow the garden with white clover, and the paths on the site with lawn grass or simply ryegrass. Here is a source of excellent mulch, especially if you have a lawn mower with a hopper. But for those whose eyes are more accustomed to traditional beds, an agricultural technique called “green manure” will be of great help. Its essence lies in growing industrial crops without obtaining a harvest from them, but using green and root mass as fertilizer.

Greenery is used mainly as a means of organizing a short crop - in the fall, after harvesting the main crop (for example, potatoes), an intermediate crop (most often rye) is sown in its place, which is embedded in the soil either in the fall or, if the crop is a winter crop, in the spring.

The area is then occupied by the main crop again.

List of main green manure plants for planting in the country

Winter rye

The most common green manure is .

This is an annual plant of the Cereals family, which is valued for its ability to grow a relatively large green mass and enrich the soil with organic matter, as well as nitrogen and potassium.

It is unpretentious, drought-resistant, has very high frost resistance, is undemanding to soils - it tolerates insufficient nutritional value, high acidity and low salinity.

It grows better on black soil, but as a technical crop it is also cultivated on sand.

Despite all the listed advantages of rye, it is difficult to find green manure that is more inconvenient for small areas.

It is very difficult to overcome a powerful root system without mechanical disking.

On the other hand, rye suppresses wheatgrass and other weeds very effectively, so it will be good when developing new areas.

A much more interesting green manure crop for us is mustard. In recent years, gardeners have experienced a real mustard boom - with each fall, more and more plots are turning mustard. And this is not surprising, because mustard is a more effective fertilizer than manure. An annual plant of the Brassica family, it very quickly grows green mass and accumulates nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

The crop is light-loving, requires moisture during the germination period, and is cold-resistant - the growing season continues in late autumn at a temperature of 3-4°C, the seedlings can withstand frosts down to -5°C.

You are probably familiar with the burning taste of ground mustard seeds, which is caused by the sulfur compounds accumulated in them. Mustard root secretions also contain sulfur, which mole crickets, May beetle larvae, wireworms (click beetle larvae), slugs and other soil-dwelling pests really dislike. What is typical is that moles are extremely keen on them, so sowing mustard can indirectly reduce the harmful effects of these digging animals. Pathogenic microflora also do not tolerate sulfur compounds well, so the use of mustard for phytosanitary purposes can reduce the likelihood of disease in the main crop, and at the same time reduce the number of weeds.

The tap root system of mustard penetrates to a depth of 2-3 m, thereby increasing the moisture capacity and air permeability of the soil, and also forming its structure. This is one of the best crops for protecting soil from water and wind erosion in spring and autumn. And if you do not mow it before winter, mustard retains snow, promotes less soil freezing and greater accumulation of moisture.

If mustard is grown as a green manure, then it is sown at the rate of 150-200 g per hundred square meters and mowed before budding begins, approximately 40 days after germination. This way you can get 3 or even 4 growing seasons per season and effectively fertilize and improve the health of the soil. The seeding rate for soil improvement is 400 g per hundred square meters.

During flowering, mustard attracts beneficial insects and is generally a honey plant. With such qualities, it is not surprising that this crop is becoming increasingly popular as a green fertilizer. Please note that in mixed plantings with a high sowing density, mustard can inhibit the main crop.

Another crop of the Brassica family, which is grown as green manure, is oilseed radish - a highly branched plant up to 1.5-2 m high with white-violet flowers. It grows quickly (almost like mustard) and develops a relatively large green mass during the cold period, and tolerates late sowing well. It differs from other green manures of the Cabbage family in being less demanding on soils.

With the beginning of budding, cellulose is formed in the stems, which somewhat slows down their subsequent processing by microorganisms and soil animals, but yellow rapeseed flowers attract bees and other pollinating insects. Growing to a height of 1.2-1.5 m, rapeseed green manure prevents the growth of weeds and enriches the soil with organic matter, phosphorus and sulfur. Rapeseed seeds accumulate so many energetically valuable substances that they are used to produce oil and biodiesel.

Rapeseed does not tolerate damp and waterlogged soils and does not grow well in heavy clay areas. Withstands frosts down to -2…-5°C. Honey plant.

The most widespread variety is Gorlitsa, so this name is used in many regions instead of “rape”. Drought-resistant, winter-hardy, not demanding on light and growing quickly, this green manure crop loosens and structures the soil well, increasing its air and moisture capacity.

Possessing almost all the beneficial properties of mustard green manure, rapeseed most often has a much lower cost of seeds, so pay attention to it.

All cabbage green manures cannot be alternated with other cabbage crops: cabbage, radishes, turnips, radishes.

A common mistake among gardeners is to sow mustard in the fall, and in the spring to plant cabbage seedlings in this place, and then wonder why the seedlings disappeared?..

Lupine is an annual or perennial plant of the Legume family. One of the best green manures, since after it you can grow almost all crops, especially those that require nitrogen. Even on poor soils it accumulates a lot of green mass - up to 300-400 kg per hundred square meters. Significantly increases the fertility of loamy and sandy loam soils, completely replaces manure, and promotes soil deoxidation.

But the most important property of lupine for us is to form a symbiosis of roots and nodule bacteria, due to which up to 2 kg of nitrogen can accumulate per 10 m2 of area sown with this crop. In addition, microorganisms, as a rule, live on lupine roots that convert insoluble phosphates into a form accessible to the plant.

Lupine has a deep, well-branched root system, which loosens the soil and lifts minerals closer to the surface. Well structures and drains the soil to a depth of 2, and perennial lupins - up to 8 m, increasing its breathability and moisture capacity.

Most lupins contain alkaloids, due to which they exhibit phytosanitary properties, repelling mole crickets, May beetle larvae and other soil-dwelling pests. White and yellow lupine have the least alkaloids, which can be used as animal feed. Blue lupine is not used in cultivation. There are many varieties of lupine with different characteristics, and some perennial lupins are used as ornamental plants that go well in mixed plantings with hostas, irises, lilies, delphiniums, and astilbes.

Vika

Vetch is an annual plant of the legume family of spring or winter form, which has the highest precocity among legumes. Since the stems of vetch are climbing, when growing it, supports are required, which are usually used as oats, barley, mustard, rapeseed, and phacelia. The vetch-oat mixture enriches the soil with both nitrogen (vetch) and potassium (oats). Mixed with oats, vetch can withstand frosts down to -5...-7°C. Winter hardiness of winter vetch is average.

Vetch forms a symbiosis with nodule bacteria that develop on the roots, due to which it accumulates nitrogen, although less than sweet clover, alfalfa and lupine. It has been established that tomatoes grown using vetch yield 45% more than without the help of green manure.

The use of vegetable varieties of peas allows you to obtain both a harvest and green manure, but forage varieties have the best early ripening among legumes. It should be taken into account that with late sowing, peas can be affected by diseases and pests.

In China, soil fertility has been maintained at a high level for thousands of years mainly due to green manure with clover. The perennial, unpretentious legume crop is a valuable green manure due to its ability to quickly grow a large amount of green mass. Red clover is capable of producing 2-4 cuttings per season, white clover - on average 1.

Red clover fixes nitrogen on a par with annual lupine and significantly more than vetch, peas, and broad beans. Pink clover fixes 1.5 times less nitrogen, white clover fixes even less. But it is white clover that is an excellent pasture and ground cover crop, which allows it to be used in the garden, for sodding a vineyard, as well as for creating shade-tolerant and trampling-resistant lawns.

Alfalfa is another perennial legume crop that produces a very large amount of green mass: under irrigated conditions, 8-10 cuttings can produce up to 80-120 kg of green mass per 1 m2.

In the 2-3rd year of life, alfalfa accumulates as much nitrogen in the soil as is contained in 40-60 tons of manure (up to 300 kg of nitrogen per 1 ha). Alfalfa biomass is an easily digestible fertilizer, enriches the soil with nutrients and improves its structure, and helps reduce acidity.

Sweet clover is a biennial plant of the Legume family. One of the most common green manures. It is especially valued for its ability to reclaim carbonate and saline soils.
It has a branched root system, the largest in mass among legume green manures, due to which it has a significant green manure effect even with a small regrowth of the above-ground part.

Effectively stabilizes slopes. The best biological ameliorant for salt marshes: it improves the water regime not only by draining the soil, ensuring the leaching of salts, but also, thanks to the root secretions of carbonic acid, it triggers the chemical processes of desalinization.

Used as a honey plant and medicinal plant. Reduces the degree of soil contamination by nematodes and wireworms. Repels mice.

Buckwheat is a grain crop that can grow quickly, effectively displace weeds, and enrich the soil with organic matter, phosphorus and potassium.

This is the best green manure for planting in the garden and vineyard because it does not dry out the soil. It is especially recommended to plant buckwheat on poor, heavy, acidic soils, since its deep and branched root system improves the soil structure and enriches it with useful substances. This is a unique plant because it can grow in the poorest soils, where nothing else grows.

By sowing buckwheat three times in one season, you can get rid of the ubiquitous wheatgrass, but its allelopathic nature has also been noted in relation to other crops. Heals the soil by inhibiting pathogenic microflora.

Sensitive to cold and prolonged drought. Both the green mass of buckwheat and the husks after cleaning the grain are used for mulch. One of the best honey plants.

The culture is moisture-loving. It requires moisture most during seed germination and during the period from tillering to heading. It is most sensitive to atmospheric drought in the flowering phase.

Cold-resistant, but weakly frost-resistant at the stage of milky maturity, autumn frosts are dangerous.

Phacelia is considered an ideal plant for gardeners. It grows very quickly, forming a large amount of green mass. Blooms 6 weeks after sowing.

Soil greening rules

The wider the biotype, the more stable the biotope. If we translate this game of terms into understandable language, it turns out that the more diverse the plant and animal (bacteria and insects in this case are also animals) world we create on our site, the more resistant the entire biological system of the site will be to the influence of diseases, pests and neighbors, as well as to frosts, droughts and other vagaries of the weather.

In this regard, those who use only rye or only mustard as green manure do not act very wisely. More and more of everything is a much more productive approach. Green manure plants can make a significant contribution to expanding the biological diversity of an area, not only by themselves, as plants, but also thanks to symbiont microorganisms, and at the same time attracted insects.

Moreover, anything sown with the aim of feeding the soil, and not for obtaining a harvest, can act as green manure.

What about spicy flavors? You need to have as many of them on your site as possible, even if you don’t really like lemon balm, tarragon, thyme, and others in terms of culinary preferences. and dill is also (and not only!) green mass, phytoncides, symbioses and other indescribable and innumerable benefits. Roughly speaking, green manure can also be ordinary vegetable crops - tomatoes, which we didn’t like (but there are a lot of seeds stored in the bins), or carrots from expired seeds, etc. What can we say about medicinal plants and, let’s not be afraid of this word, nettles ?

Or here’s another surprise: raspberry grows biomass very intensively—it’s enough for both itself and other crops. Raspberry stems are looser than the wood of shrubs and trees, so in mulch they are processed by microorganisms relatively quickly. Why not green manure?

How to increase soil fertility, improve its composition and structure - these are the most important issues that summer residents have to solve.
The soil is called fertile if it contains the amount of nutrients necessary for plants. If the yield of the beds gradually decreases, and the planted plants often get sick or do not look quite right, most likely the reason is a decrease in soil fertility. What can you do?

Method number 1: give the earth a rest

You can give different areas of the land the opportunity to simply rest. This means that no cultivated plants will be planted there for a whole year. But weeds that immediately begin to grow must be removed in a timely manner, not giving them the opportunity to grow and produce seeds. By winter, you should dig up the soil in the rested area, turning the top layer down.

Method number 2: dig up the weeds

The cheapest way to improve soil fertility is to mow down weeds that have not yet formed seeds from the surface of an unsown bed. If the weeds have become tall, they must be crushed and scattered over the surface of the bed (the layer can reach 10-15 cm), and then dug them to a depth of 20-25 cm. Under the layer of soil, the weeds will rot and provide the soil with many important nutrients. The soil structure will also improve.

Method No. 3: Sowing the beds with winter rye

In the fall, after harvesting the entire crop and shallowly digging the ground, you can sow the beds with winter rye. In the spring, overwintered rye should be dug up deeply along with the weeds that will be there by this time. And in two weeks you can already sow.

Method number 4: plant lupine

Lupine is an excellent way to enrich the soil. It has a developed root system that helps loosen the soil. As a plant of the legume family, lupine enriches the earth with nitrogen. It is usually sown around the end of April, when the ground has barely thawed. Lupine grows quickly, and as soon as a peduncle appears, the bed is urgently dug deep, crushing the lupine with a shovel. Then you should sow the lupine again. It will have time to grow just before the cold weather, and buds will appear again. They dig it up again (or you can leave it over the winter). After three times, the soil fertility will greatly increase.

Method number 5: plant peas, mustard and other herbs

Peas are also used to improve fertility. Moreover, in this case, the gardener has the opportunity to harvest, but it is important not to miss it: you need to dig up the tops while the plants are still green, have not begun to fade, and have not withered. Next, it is recommended to sow mustard, which will die after the first frost. They immediately dig it up.
Here are the herbs that can be planted with further digging: vetch, lupine, beans, alfalfa, rapeseed, sweet clover, clover, buckwheat. These plants improve the soil and suppress weeds.

Method number 6: collecting autumn leaves

Every autumn nature gives us a huge amount of leaves. But this is also an excellent source of improving soil fertility. The leaves are collected. If there are few of them, they bring them from the forest. Place them in a pile, covering them with earth. The leaves will rot and rot, and fungal spores and larvae will die from the high temperature. By spring, the fertilizer is ready and can be applied to the soil.
If you don’t want to pile it up, place it directly on the beds (15 cm high). In this case, be sure to water it with a strong solution of potassium permanganate and dig it up.

Method number 7: planting medicinal plants

Sometimes soil, like us humans, needs medicine to restore itself. In these cases, medicinal plants are planted: calendula, marigolds, garlic, etc.

Method number 8: populating California worms

A very effective, but not yet very popular remedy is the use of Californian worms, which, unlike ordinary ones, are very prolific and live a long time.

Method number 9: use fertilizers

And, of course, organic fertilizers improve the productivity of a plot of land very well. But we must remember that this is not fresh manure, which is very aggressive, as it destroys plants by burning them. Only after it has been heated, the manure turns into organic fertilizer. Bird droppings and pig manure will take much longer to rot. But cow and horse manure rots faster.

The handsome lupine will charm everyone, and few will guess that this is not just a decoration, but also a serious garden worker. First of all, this plant is the best assistant in the development of virgin lands, especially the yellow one. First, lupine softens the soil with its roots, and then itself serves as a biologically valuable fertilizer after plowing.

The first half of May is suitable for sowing it. Don’t just admire, but also carefully watch the lupine blossom. It is necessary to prevent the formation of seeds and mow the plant “in full bloom.” Then we harrow the soil and, if desired, sow lupine again. Sowing can be done until July inclusive, and in late autumn, plow the area along with the plants.

Anything will grow after lupine: it leaves a sufficient amount of various useful substances in the soil. Lupine stems and leaves are also useful as mulch.

How is phacelia useful?

Beekeepers were the first to fall in love with it, sowing it along with buckwheat, clover, mustard and peas. But, probably, one day a gardener “started up” among them, who noticed the beneficial effect of this plant on the soil.

By the way, the listed honey plants can also be used as fertilizers. If you have an apiary on your property, they are just a godsend for you.

But we started talking about phacelia. It is undemanding to soil and moisture, but it won’t hurt to fertilize the soil a little before planting. When the phacelia unfolds its rather large leaves, you will notice how the weeds recoil from such power. A suitable place is the land after early crops, where it can be sown no later than August.

What are the benefits of legumes?

If you notice that, despite all your efforts, the soil on your site has absolutely no strength, that is, useful substances and microorganisms, it’s time... to fall in love with beans. Yes Yes! Only this will save soil fertility.

Fortunately, there is a large selection of legumes, which means your menu will be quite varied. You will have to eat soups, purees, salads and other dishes for a year, that is, sow the soil with different legumes for a year. After this, the condition of your site will noticeably improve.

The wonderful thing is that beans will produce a good harvest in any soil, as long as it is warm. Taking this opportunity to once again add fertilizer to the tired soil, sprinkle the holes with beans with humus or composted peat.

When to sow green manures?

Even during the spring frosts, in April, you can sow white clover, mustard, spring rape and oilseed radish. They can be sown until September. As soon as the spring frosts are over, we sow lupine, spring vetch, beans, and red clover. They can also be sown before the end of summer.

In mid-summer, sow winter rapeseed, winter vetch and phacelia.

It is known that more seeds are used before winter than during normal sowing. Before seeds form, plants need to be mowed, placed in compost, and the roots must be plowed. You can plow the area with unmown green fertilizer.

It is best to sow clover in the garden between the fruit trees. It is both beautiful and good for the soil. If, in addition, you want to protect the trees from, sow under the trees. It will be even more beautiful, and calendula will be useful to you as an antiseptic, and nasturtium leaves will be useful in salad.

At the end of autumn, all these plants can be chopped and mulched with them.

How to fertilize the soil for... fertilizers?

We are, of course, talking about green fertilizers. While they are plants, they need no less attention than your other pets, at least until they get stronger.

There are subtleties here. Leguminous plants enrich the soil with nitrogen during their life. But they themselves cannot tolerate excess nitrogen.

But plants of the moth family will be grateful for fertilizing with nitrogen. A small amount is enough: 10 g of urea or ammonium nitrate per square meter.