For any plant, the soil is its home. Therefore, each blade of grass does a great job of improving its housing. Plants loosen the soil with their roots, and after the roots die, they are used by microbes and worms that fill the soil with nitrogen. With their leaves, they protect the earth from blowing away and blurring, and also shade from the sun, preventing cracking. It turns out that it is the plants that create the soil.
What are green manure? These are plants (a mixture of plants) that are sown in order to fill the soil with nutrition and organic matter. After growing crops, the land becomes scarce, it loses most of its nutrients. And green manure is used to give her nutrients back. This is the most economical, simple and environmentally friendly way to fertilize the soil. This is especially important for those places where the same crops are grown every year and it is simply not possible to apply crop rotation.
Siderates are plants that can quickly form a green mass. They have a beneficial effect on the soil, structure it. If the soil is loose, they will strengthen it, make it coherent. And clay, heavy soil, on the contrary, will loosen, increase the access of moisture and airTo her. In addition, they will increase the activity of microflora, and reduce acidity. The soil will be enriched with organic matter, especially valuable growth stimulants, enzymes and nutrients. Green manures are especially effective on low-humus sandy and sandy areas, but their use on clay soils gives a noticeable result.
Common siderats are alfalfa, sweet clover, peas, clover, lupine, vetch, rank and other leguminous plants. Often, cereals act as green manure crops. Of these, oats are considered the most preferred, as they are the richest in silicon, potassium and phosphorus. You can also plant mustard and rapeseed. After mustard, the soil is especially good for onions, radishes, garlic and radishes.
For those who keep their own apiary, honey green manure is considered the best - these are sunflower, buckwheat and phacelia. They guarantee a food base for bees, on which the harvest in the garden and in the garden largely depends. And the laziest farmers need to plant perennial lupins.
This fertilizer is grown in two steps. Siderates in spring or autumn are sown directly into the ground after fresh plowing. They are planted before planting the main crop and after harvest. In gardens, they are sown along the aisles. A continuous method is used there: one crop of green manure is plowed in and the next is immediately sown. In the garden, a week before the main crop is to be planted, green manure is chopped with a shovel or mowed and immediately buried.
If the weather is dry, then the buried fertilizer will have towater to speed up the decomposition process.
Phacelia is green manure, which grows green mass in a short time. It will take only 40 days from the moment of planting, and beautiful blue flowers will appear, collected in inflorescences with 70 small flowers. The root of the phacelia will penetrate 20 cm deep in a short time, thereby significantly improving air exchange and loosening the soil. This plant is sown at any convenient time, as it can withstand even frosts on the soil surface. In addition, after phacelia on the site, the number of nematodes, other pests and pathogenic bacteria is significantly reduced. It also attracts beneficial insects and is a honey plant, which is especially important for gardeners. In a word, phacelia is an excellent green manure. It will not only enrich the soil with organic matter, greatly improve the situation in the beds, but also bring aesthetic pleasure.
