Content
- 1 Where does alfalfa grow?
- 2 How long does it take for alfalfa to grow?
- 3 Alfalfa sowing time
- 4 What crops does it combine with?
- 5 Preparing seeds for sowing
- 6 Seeding rates
- 7 How to sow alfalfa at home
- 8 How long does it take for alfalfa to sprout after sowing?
- 9 How to care for plantings
- 10 Cleaning
- 11 Conclusion
Sowing alfalfa seeds is most often carried out to obtain a good green manure. Grass improves the soil composition and makes it easier to grow vegetables.
Where does alfalfa grow?
Alfalfa, or blue alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is a herbaceous plant of the Legume family. It has tetrahedral stems branching in the upper part up to 80 cm above the ground and powerful, deep-lying roots. The leaves of the plant are oblong, obovate, with a whole edge, on petioles. The flowers of seed alfalfa are blue-violet, the fruits are beans up to 6 mm in diameter.
In its natural form, the culture is found in the Balkans and Asia Minor; the perennial is grown artificially all over the world. Seed alfalfa prefers to settle on grassy slopes and screes, on pastures and forest edges, along the banks of reservoirs.
Alfalfa can be sown as a honey plant
How long does it take for alfalfa to grow?
The lifespan of alfalfa from seeds depends on the climate and quality of care, as well as on the area in which the grass is to be sown. But on average, a plant can develop within 4-8 years.
Alfalfa sowing time
The timing of sowing alfalfa is determined by the climatic conditions of a particular region. In Siberia and the Urals, seeds are planted in the fall in October or September. In this case, shoots appear shortly after the snow melts in early or mid-May. If the crop is sown at the end of the season, after natural stratification in the soil, it will demonstrate particularly high resistance to fungi and pests. Long-term hardening increases the endurance of planting material.
In the middle zone and in the south, alfalfa should be sown with seeds in mid-March after the soil has thawed. Shoots also gain strength towards the end of spring or early summer.
Sowing alfalfa at home for seedlings is rarely practiced; usually the crop is planted directly in open ground. But if desired, the grass can be grown first in closed containers. In this case, the seeds should be sown in loose substrate in containers in early March. Throughout the spring, the seedlings are provided with basic care - the seedlings are watered, ventilated and, if necessary, illuminated with a phytolamp. By May, the sprouts are transferred to the garden and placed in the soil using the transfer method.
If you are going to sow alfalfa seeds in a large field, using the seedling method is not recommended. Transplanting seedlings from containers into the ground will take a lot of time and effort.
What crops does it combine with?
Alfalfa as green manure can be sown in front of many garden crops. The following plants develop best after a perennial plant:
- tomatoes;
- cabbage;
- turnip;
- radish;
- radish;
- oats and wheat.
It is not advisable to sow alfalfa seeds before legumes, or immediately after them. Plants from the same family suffer from common fungi and pests.
Preparing seeds for sowing
Before planting alfalfa by hand, it is recommended to subject the plant material to special treatment. It is carried out according to the following algorithm:
- The seeds to be sown are ground with sand to slightly damage their shell and speed up germination.
- Soak the material in lukewarm water for a day.
- Dry thoroughly before sowing.
Before sowing alfalfa seeds, they can be disinfected. To do this, prepare a light solution of potassium permanganate or add a couple of drops of a growth stimulator to 100 ml of water. The seeds are soaked according to the instructions for a period of 20 minutes to eight hours. Disinfection will speed up the emergence of seedlings and also make the crop more resistant to fungi.
Seeding rates
It is recommended to plant alfalfa in accordance with certain seed consumption rates. If the crop is to be used as green manure, the grains are planted as densely as possible. The plant should be sown as a honey plant in smaller quantities - the seedlings must have space to develop.
How many alfalfa seeds do you need per hundred square meters?
The consumption of alfalfa seeds per 1 acre is usually about 150 g. If the soil is moist and fertile, it is recommended to sow up to 200 g of grains. In regions with a dry climate and light soil, about 80 g of material are consumed for the same area.
Alfalfa seeding rate per hectare
The consumption of alfalfa seeds per hectare starts from 9 kg.It is recommended to sow the material automatically using special equipment. Planting a plant over large areas by hand is quite difficult and takes a lot of time.
How to sow alfalfa at home
You can sow alfalfa by hand at home in the country according to a simple scheme. The algorithm looks like this:
- The area for green manure is first dug up.
- Organic fertilizers, as well as potassium and phosphorus, are added to the soil.
- Loosen the soil using a rake and prepare small trenches.
- Water the soil thoroughly before sowing alfalfa.
- They walk through the field and scatter the seeds, first along the beds, and then across them.
The sowing depth of alfalfa should be no more than 3 cm. In most cases, planting material is not buried in the soil at all, but is simply sprinkled with substrate on top. You can also sow the seeds and then walk across the field with a special roller to plant them.
The area for alfalfa is prepared no later than six months before planting the crop
How long does it take for alfalfa to sprout after sowing?
The germination rates of alfalfa seeds depend on weather conditions. If you sow the crop at a temperature of about 20 ° C, it will germinate in just 5-7 days. If it is quite cold outside, the process will take about 20 days.
In general, alfalfa is considered a frost-resistant plant. It is allowed to sow seeds in open ground when the temperature rises to 1-2 degrees.
How to care for plantings
Growing alfalfa in your summer cottage is quite simple. It is necessary to pay attention to several agrotechnical measures.
Watering
It is recommended to sow alfalfa with seeds, including because it tolerates short-term drought well. At the same time, the grass reacts poorly to a prolonged lack of moisture.In order for the plant to quickly gain green mass in the spring, it is necessary to provide it with a sufficient amount of water.
Watering of alfalfa begins after the seedlings reach 15 cm in height. The plantings are irrigated with lukewarm, settled water with a soft composition; the liquid is applied, if possible, under the root. Then watering is repeated during the budding period of the crop. The third time, water is added after the first mowing of the plant so that the alfalfa can recover faster.
It is allowed to refuse watering in rainy, cool weather. In such a situation, the plant has enough natural precipitation; additional moisture can cause root rot.
How to feed alfalfa
It is necessary to fertilize alfalfa for the fastest development of grass and good growth of green mass. The crop needs complex mineral supplements containing nitrogen, potassium and magnesium. Phosphorus fertilizers have a beneficial effect on the condition of the plant.
For the first time, fertilizing is applied approximately two weeks after the formation of seedlings. Subsequently, the crop is fertilized twice a month. It is recommended to use liquid preparations; they are absorbed by the roots faster and better. In addition, you can use organic fertilizers for the crop - infusion of bird droppings, mullein solution, wood ash.
Weeding
In the first stages of development, seeded alfalfa needs regular weeding to remove weeds. The procedure is carried out every three weeks until the first mowing of the grass.
In the process, it is necessary not only to remove weeds, but also to loosen the soil, preventing the formation of a hard crust on its surface.Good soil aeration accelerates the development of perennial crops and prevents the occurrence of diseases.
Alfalfa pests
When planting alfalfa in autumn and spring, care must be taken to protect the seedlings from pests. Several insects pose a danger to perennial crops:
- Bruchophagus, or alfalfa beetle. A small black parasite up to 2 mm long feeds on seed embryos and attacks the plant en masse during the flowering period.
The alfalfa beetle can overwinter inside the seeds; before sowing the material, it should be disinfected
- Alfalfa bug. The pest is a yellow-green insect with two black dots on its back and reaches a length of approximately 9 mm. It feeds on plant sap of shoots and leaves, causing crops to wilt. Can overwinter inside alfalfa stems.
The alfalfa bug damages plantings in dry and hot weather
- Phytonomus, or alfalfa elephant. A gray-brown beetle up to 5.5 mm long with a dark spot on its wings eats young leaves of the plant at the beginning of the growing season. The damaged perennial partially dries out, and the yield of alfalfa seeds decreases.
Alfalfa moth causes the most damage during the first cutting of grass
- Alfalfa aphid. The small dark brown insect produces up to 15 generations in one summer and tightly adheres to the green parts of the plant. It feeds on the juice of shoots and leaves, causing their deformation and drying out. If you do not fight aphids, they can completely destroy up to 50% of the plantings, since the affected stems do not set buds and do not produce seeds.
Alfalfa aphids can become carriers of dangerous viral diseases
- Alfalfa mosquito. The larvae of the parasite overwinter in the soil, and the adult insect lays eggs in the buds of the plant.The pest impairs the flowering of the crop and reduces its fruiting, and also slows down the growth of grass for the first and second cutting.
The mosquito often attacks seeded alfalfa on wet soil in cold, damp weather.
- Alfalfa weevil. A black beetle up to 5 cm in length eats the leaves of the plant, and its larvae feed on the roots of the perennial. Without control, the parasite can quickly destroy alfalfa plantings. When the underground shoots are damaged, grass loses its ability to receive moisture and nutrients from the soil.
The alfalfa weevil lays up to 400 eggs at a time during the breeding process
Pest control can be quite difficult, especially if you sow alfalfa over large areas. Therefore, the main attention is paid to preventing the appearance of insects. It is necessary to treat the seeds with disinfectants before planting. The plant can be sown only after deep digging and disinfection of the soil.
During the budding period, alfalfa is recommended to be treated with insecticides even in the absence of alarming symptoms. It is allowed to use the drugs Bitoxibacillin, Karbofos, Fufanon and similar products.
Cleaning
You can mow alfalfa from seeds on your site several times a season. If the plant is used as green manure, harvesting is carried out at the beginning of budding. In this case, the stems of the crop will not have time to become lignified and will quickly disintegrate in the soil.
The last mowing is done in the fall about a month before the arrival of cold weather. The grass is left to lie on the site until it withers. After this, the plant materials are raked into heaps, the area is plowed and green manure is embedded in the ground for the winter. Within 5-6 months, the alfalfa from the seeds will rot and saturate the soil with nitrogen.When sowing plants over large areas, a tractor is used to embed green manure into the soil.
If alfalfa is to be used as livestock feed, it must be harvested in the early stages of development. You should not wait until flowering begins; after the buds appear, the nutritional value of the crop decreases sharply. It is also necessary to take into account that the grass of the first cut contains more crude protein, and alfalfa of the second and third waves contains a lot of plant fiber.
Conclusion
Sowing of alfalfa seeds is carried out in accordance with established consumption rates in open ground. The procedure can be performed both in spring and autumn. It is useful to sow grass in front of tomatoes and cabbage, as well as in front of grain crops.
