Content
Many vegetable growers are accustomed to sowing green manure in the fall after potatoes. The fact is that for a good harvest, the crop needs a fairly large amount of nutrients. As you know, potatoes quickly deplete the soil, and not everyone has the opportunity to change the place to plant them every year. Then green manure plants come to the rescue, capable of replenishing the necessary elements in the soil.
In total, there are about 400 species of green manure, but not all of them are suitable for planting under potatoes
What are green manures and what are they for?
Green manure is a type of plant organism that is capable of extracting from the lower layer of soil the necessary elements for cultivating vegetables. The above-ground parts of such crops contain many useful substances, which, after rotting, enter the soil. Gardeners consider green manure a natural fertilizer, thanks to which the soil is saturated with useful components, and also does not become overgrown with weeds during a break from sowing.Such plants lead to the activation of soil microorganisms, reduce the acidity of the soil, enrich it with organic matter, and saturate it with potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus. The root system of certain types of green manure increases the air and water permeability of the soil and loosens it.
Advantages and disadvantages
The effectiveness of using green manure lies in many ways. If you sow them annually, the benefits will be greater than from fertilizing the soil with peat or organic matter.
Sowing green manure ensures successful harvesting in almost all cases
Advantages:
- weed protection;
- enrichment of soil with potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen;
- maintaining the required level of soil moisture;
- improving the functioning of bacteria;
- saturation of the soil with phytoncides that repel harmful insects.
Flaws:
- many green manures are perennials and are difficult to get rid of;
- with a large volume of incorporation into the soil, the plants can turn sour and deteriorate its composition.
When to sow green manure for potatoes
It is better to sow green manure after harvesting potatoes with the arrival of autumn, since timely planted seeds will make it possible to increase the fertility of the land and plant vegetables on the site in the next season. The most favorable time for carrying out work is considered to be September, so that at least a month and a half remains before the expected frost occurs.
The point of sowing green manure in the fall is that before winter they will have time to grow and become stronger enough, and will also be able to successfully withstand low temperatures with virtually no losses. With the arrival of spring, as the snow begins to melt, the plants will wake up, and when the right time comes, after they are embedded in the soil, they will begin to accumulate nutrients.
Some vegetable growers begin to sow green manure under potatoes in the spring. When doing such work, you should have time to lay them in the ground no later than the beginning of May, preferably in the first half of April. This way the sprouts will have time to sprout and retain the maximum amount of nutrients. They usually begin to sow after the ground warms up to +10-12 °C; the seeds are buried 3-4 cm during work. A couple of weeks before planting potatoes, the grown shoots are mowed and the beds are dug up along with them.
When sowing in spring, the sprouts do not have enough time to gain growth, so in this case it is better to choose legumes or cruciferous crops, or at least oats, for vitamin support.
If the soil is very poor, then green manure for potatoes can be sown even in summer: in June, July and August. Vetch, radish or mustard are placed between the crop rows, respectively.
Green manure has a strong influence on the formation and growth of potato tubers
Which green manure is best to sow in the fall after potatoes?
To choose the best green manure after potatoes in the fall, you should start from the type of soil on the site.Agricultural experts advise sowing legumes on swampy or clayey soil (refrain from planting lupine), planting sainfoin on rocky and heavy soils, and choosing cereals for poor areas. The latter are planted exclusively after harvesting potatoes, as they attract wireworms.
It is better to sow several types of green manure under potatoes, which will immediately meet different conditions: reduce the risk of developing pathogenic microflora, repel insects, and enrich the soil with minerals and organic matter.
Usually, to saturate the soil with phosphorus and nitrogen, mustard and legumes are sown under tuber crops, and chickpeas, lentils, oats, sweet clover, and rapeseed are used as green fertilizer.
Cereals
Cereals are the largest group of green manures. They are highly resistant to cold and bring many benefits to the soil. The most effective crop varieties are considered to be rye, barley and oats. The first helps to form and accumulate organic substances in the soil, in particular nitrogen, the second makes it more structured and moist, the third serves as a source of organic compounds, and is also an excellent means of protection against scab, rot, fungi and nematodes.
If the soil on the site is dry, then it is best to sow barley as green manure under potatoes. For heavy soil, oats are more suitable. And to increase the effect, mix it well with peas or vetch.
These crops are planted in late summer and buried in the ground at the end of spring, when the height of the plants reaches 25 cm.
Cereals provide a lot of nutritious green matter, which has the same benefits as manure.
Legume green manure for potatoes in the fall
Representatives of legumes are excellent green manure for potatoes. The best fertilizers for tubers are considered to be:
- Sweet clover. Green manure is sown in the fall after potatoes against wireworms.
Sweet clover enriches the soil with nutrients and improves its condition
- Mouse peas (Vica). Performs a protective function, and also restores the structure of the earth and helps it not to collapse.
Legume green manures are most often sown in fields
Rape
Rapeseed as a green manure for potatoes is also used on large plantations, but sometimes it can also be found on private farms. This plant brings a complex effect, saturates the soil with organic matter, improves its structure, helps in the fight against diseases, and protects against insects.
Rapeseed is a frost-resistant plant and is well suited for sowing before winter. Effectively fertilizes plantations. It is often called green manure.
Rapeseed makes the soil as fertile as possible
Mustard
A very good green manure for potatoes is ordinary mustard. When the moment of flowering comes, one square meter of land is enriched with 2 g of phosphorus, 10 g of nitrogen and 14 g of potassium. The yield in this case increases to 70%, without the use of additional fertilizing.
In addition to common advantages with other green fertilizers, mustard has a number of its own advantages:
- provides protection to plantings from scab, late blight and rot;
- saturates the soil with organic materials, which turn into humus over a certain period of time;
- clears beds of weeds;
- deeply loosens the soil;
- promotes accelerated penetration of air and water into the ground.
Another advantage of the crop is that in some regions it can be sown almost until the end of September; it sprouts even at a temperature of +1 °C. The plant does not need care.
Due to the essential oil contained in mustard, it helps repel wireworms and the Colorado potato beetle from the area.
Oilseed radish
Oilseed radish produces twice as much greenery as mustard, but has less pronounced phyto-properties. It is also planted because it is an early ripening green manure, blooming within a month after sowing.
The plant suppresses the development of potato root rot and nematode infection, and reduces the appearance of weeds by almost half. In addition, oilseed radish loosens the soil with its powerful root system, improves its structure, and cleanses it of toxins.
Sowing it is similar to planting mustard; during work, the consumption is maintained at the rate of 0.3 kg per 1 hectare of land, and embedded in the ground at the flowering stage.
Oilseed radish shoots appear already on the fourth day after sowing
Other crops
In addition to the above plants, it is useful to sow winter green manures such as buckwheat, phacelia, and lupine under potatoes. Oats are also suitable as a green fertilizer. Some gardeners prefer to sow soybeans or peas before planting potatoes. There is an opinion that corn, which should be planted not under the tuber crop, but next to it, is beneficial. Thus, its tall stems will provide additional protection for the beds from wind and sun.
How to sow green manure in the fall after potatoes
Planting green manure after potatoes in the fall or spring is carried out in compliance with all the necessary rules of agricultural technology.The soil for plants should be loose and warm. Seeds should be sown in furrows or evenly scattered over the beds, and then buried with a rake. Usually 2 kg of seedlings are consumed per hundred square meters, but for each crop a certain sowing density must be observed. Water the plantings carefully, preventing them from washing out to the surface of the earth.
The sowing process is as follows:
- The plantation is dug up and loosened well.
- Make 4-5 cm furrows in the garden bed.
- Sowing is carried out.
- Cover the surface of the earth with rotted manure.
- Watering is carried out if necessary.
With the arrival of spring, green manure is removed and potatoes are planted in its place.
Some vegetable growers prefer to sow green fertilizers twice a year for greater productivity.
When and how to bury green manure
Green manure is mowed a month before it is time to plant potatoes, until they begin to actively bloom. Otherwise, the plants will disintegrate in the soil more slowly.
They are used in several ways:
- Fully. When all green manure is buried in the ground. At the same time, they are buried to a depth of approximately 10 cm.
- Otavno. Only plant roots are plowed into the ground, and other beds are fertilized with green mass.
- Ukosno. When green manure grown in another area is used.
The time suitable for planting is also determined depending on the purpose for which they were sown and the type of crop.
Each gardener decides for himself how exactly to carry out the procedure. Recently, there has been an opinion that it is not worth burying green manure, since this way they can “close” the path to external moisture.In addition, deep digging will disrupt the fertile structure they have created. Therefore, some summer residents began to remove plants with flat cutters and embed them in the top layer of soil without turning the layer. Thus, the green parts remaining on the surface also serve as organic mulch.
Conclusion
Green manure is an excellent natural fertilizer that can be sown in front of almost any vegetable crops. A competent approach to their use gives farmers the opportunity to obtain high yields, while spending less money and effort on various types of fertilizing. If you sow green manure instead of using chemicals, in a couple of seasons you can almost completely restore the beneficial properties of the soil and make it more fertile.
