Green manure and green manure

• Green manure- one of the whales on which organic farming stands;
• Green manure- These are plants that are grown not for food, but solely to increase soil fertility. Their green mass is embedded in the soil to increase the content of organic matter, used for composting and for the preparation of liquid fertilizer;
• Green manure is especially valuable in cases where for some reason it is not possible to store manure in sufficient quantities.

History of green manure

In the practice of agriculture green manure used since time immemorial. In Europe, this technique, borrowed from China, began to spread in the Mediterranean countries already in the days of Ancient Greece. Here, it would be appropriate to quote the words of the Roman writer and scholar Pliny the Elder, who lived in 23-79 AD.

Pliny the Elder is the author of the 37-volume Natural History, which is a comprehensive encyclopedia of all kinds of knowledge. ancient world about nature. The largest section of this work, the 21st volume, is devoted to the description of the vegetable kingdom. Regarding green manure, Pliny says the following:

“Everyone agrees that there is nothing more useful than lupine, if it is planted in the soil with a plow or a two-pronged hoe before the formation of beans, or bunches of lupine, cut off at the surface of the soil, are buried near the roots. fruit trees and vine bushes... This is as good a fertilizer as manure.”

In the age of passion mineral fertilizers Starting from the middle of the last century and up to our time, green fertilizer has faded into the background and has not been used almost anywhere. Now, with the resurgence of organic farming, it is once again gaining importance.

What is green manure

As green manure use legumes and non-legumes, and most often their mixtures. Plants are allowed to grow and develop a root system and green mass, and then they are either mowed or completely embedded in the soil. The mowed mass is either used for compost, or covered with it on the surface of the soil as mulch, or embedded in the soil.

in the soil root system and leaf mass decompose, enriching it organic matter and nitrogen. The source of nitrogen is the legume component of the mixture, which is able to assimilate and accumulate atmospheric nitrogen in the root nodules. After the root system dies, organic matter containing nitrogen passes into the soil.

Thus, main purpose of green manure- enrich the soil with organic matter and nitrogen. Under the influence of microorganisms plant remains decompose and turn into humus.

Following important effect of green manure– improvement of water and air regime soil due to the loosening and structuring effect on the soil of the root system of plants. In this regard, the leading role belongs to the cereal component of the mixture. Cereal plants have a widely branched, fibrous root system that breaks the soil into small lumps. This effect of green manure is especially useful on heavy compacted soils into which water does not penetrate well. Therefore, in the alternation of crops or in crop rotation, which must be observed also on garden plots, it is very important to allocate space for green manure, so that the land is subjected to the structuring and healing effect of green manure (once in several years).

On light soils, the positive effect of green manure is to increase the water-holding capacity by enriching them with organic matter.

On heavy soils, cereals and leguminous plants with a deep root system, such as lupine, alfalfa, rye, barley, loosen the deep layers of the subsoil, and this is very important for facilitating the penetration of water into the soil and improving its water and air regime.

A crop that is grown for green manure does not produce any production in the year of cultivation, but improves the soil for five to six years.

One of the basic rules organic farming- never leave the soil uncovered. Green manures that grow before, after, or in between major crops create a dense leaf cover. It protects the soil from weathering and mineralization of organic matter, reduces the leaching of nutrients into the deep layers and keeps them in the upper fertile horizon. Such leaf cover acts as a living mulch, which is especially important for light sandy soils that suffer from nutrient leaching from the upper horizon. Therefore, it is recommended, whenever possible, to sow green manure on light soils in the fall and leave it for the winter, and in the spring to plant living or dead plants in the soil. Podzimnie crops of green manure are also especially recommended on soils subject to erosion (washout of the upper layer by rain and melt water).

Green manure also plays an important sanitary role. Firstly, it suppresses the growth of weeds, and in order for it not to become a weed itself, it is necessary to mow or close it up before seeds are formed. This applies to rapidly growing and abundant seeding: plants such as rapeseed or mustard. Secondly, some types of green fertilizer help cleanse the soil from pests and diseases. For example, dense sowing of mustard significantly reduces the amount of wireworm. Green manure produces green mass that can be used as mulch or as composting material.

Especially green manure is of great importance for the cultivation of developed areas. It helps to restore the fertility of the soil destroyed by construction or other works, where machines and people have completely destroyed or compacted the upper cultural layer.

Table 1 shows Comparative characteristics different types organic fertilizers in terms of their impact on soil properties. The effect of fertilizer is evaluated on a point system.

Table 1

Type of fertilizer	Loosening the subsoil	Structuring	Enrichment
			humus	nitrogen	Ca, Mg, trace elements
Manure	—	++	++	(++)	(++)
Straw	—	+	++
Green manure:
legumes	+	+	++	++	—
non-legumes	—	++	++	—	—
Clover-grass mixtures	++	+++	++++	+++	(—)
Type of fertilizer	weeds		Diseases and pests
	suppression	stimulation	suppression		stimulation
Manure	—	+	+		(+)
Straw	—	+			+
Green manure:
legumes	+	+	+		+
non-legumes	+	+	+		+
Clover-grass mixtures	++	++	+		+

This table shows that green manure, especially cereal-bean mixtures, is not inferior to manure in terms of its ability to enrich the soil with humus and nitrogen, but is inferior in terms of enrichment with some nutrients.

This is easy to explain: how much green fertilizer took mineral elements from the soil, it returns the same amount after dying off. Nitrogen and humus are an exception, as their amount increases due to the ability of plants to use nitrogen and carbon from the air. Therefore, green manure does not completely exclude the application of manure or compost enriched with potassium, calcium, phosphorus, etc., but it allows to reduce their dose.

The table reflects the possible negative effect of green manure, which may be due to errors in its use or in the choice of crops. An increase in infestation may be due to the late mowing of seeded plants, and an increase in diseases may be a consequence of non-compliance with the rules of crop rotation.

Techniques for growing and using green manure

To benefit from green manure and avoid the mistakes associated with its use, you need to have a good understanding of what green manure is and how it works.

When planning to use green manure, the gardener must keep in mind several considerations at once: what effect he wants to get, what kind of crop in his conditions can give such an effect, when is it better to sow it and plant it in the soil, etc. The material presented in this section should help you navigate these issues.

In table 2, you can find information about the effect of various crops used as green manure. It was said above that green manure has several purposes and has several purposes. One culture cannot satisfy all requests at once. Therefore, it is important to determine which action is needed first and then select the appropriate crop or mix of crops.

table 2

Purpose various kinds crops for green manure (Probst G., 1982)

Effect	cultures
Nitrogen fixation from the air	All legumes
Fixing nitrogen in the soil, preventing mineralization and leaching	All cabbage (cruciferous) and cereals
Erosion protection, weed suppression:
a) early sowing until early August	Broad beans, clover, lupine, oil radish, annual ryegrass, spring rapeseed, sunflower
b) late sowing until early September	Mustard, phacelia
Formation of large amounts of organic matter autumn sowing	Winter rapeseed, winter wheat
Release of sparingly soluble phosphorus	Legumes, mustard
Reducing leaching of mineral elements	All cabbage (cruciferous), especially rapeseed and oil radish
Loosening the lower layers of the soil with roots	Lupine, broad beans, oil radish, mustard
Nematode suppression	All legumes, annual ryegrass, phacelia, sunflower
For late collection of honey by bees	Phacelia, mustard, clover, sunflower, broad beans

It should be explained what the release of sparingly soluble phosphorus mentioned in the table means. Phosphorus is part of soil minerals, but in a form that is difficult for plant nutrition. Plant roots secrete organic acids, which, interacting with soil minerals, convert phosphorus into a soluble state.

Legumes and mustard are especially active in this regard, as shown in Table 2. In addition, some legumes and mustard absorb phosphorus from deep layers of the subsoil with their deeply penetrating roots. Phosphorus accumulates in the aerial parts of these plants and in their root system.

After incorporation into the soil and decomposition of plant residues, the topsoil is enriched with the organic compounds phosphorus, which, under the action of microorganisms, are transformed into a form accessible to plants. The crop following this green manure grows on soil enriched with available phosphorus.

It should be borne in mind that the effect of green fertilizer is quite dependent on the age of the plants. Young and fresh plants are rich in nitrogen, they quickly decompose in the soil and quickly release nitrogen. And therefore, after the incorporation of young green plants, the main crop can be sown or transplanted to this place in 3-4 weeks.

But at the same time, you need to know that if you put too much raw plant mass into the soil, it will not decompose, but sour. And besides, a very large amount of nitrogen released can have a negative effect on the main crop.

Practice has shown that incorporating too much green mass into the soil immediately before sowing almost always reduces the yield of the subsequent crop. Therefore, the surplus of fresh green mass is best used for composting and mulching, and the rest is embedded in the soil.

Fresh plant residues almost always contain growth and germination inhibitors, and therefore, after incorporation into the soil, it is necessary to wait some time for them to be digested by microorganisms. Young green plants enrich the soil with nitrogen, but enrich it with humus to a lesser extent, since they contain mainly rapidly decomposing organic matter.

In more adulthood When plants have formed a rigid stem, they decompose more slowly, as they contain organic substances that are difficult to decompose, which are used to build soil humus, in other words, they increase the supply of stable soil organic matter, which is the basis of its fertility.

But it should be borne in mind that mature plant tissues are rich in carbon and poor in nitrogen. The microorganisms that decompose them do not have enough nitrogen for their life activity, and they compensate for this lack by absorbing nitrogen from the soil, taking it away from plants.

Therefore, when incorporating mature plant mass shortly before sowing the main crop, a nitrogen deficiency may occur in the soil, which will adversely affect the growth of the main crop, if a certain dose of nitrogen fertilizer is not applied.

With all these considerations in mind, it is recommended to incorporate green manure during the budding period before flowering, when the plants are not yet very rough. The time and depth of embedding is chosen so that the green mass decomposes quickly and easily.

Experience has shown that it is better to plant green fertilizers shallowly, since when deep planting they do not decompose, but turn into a peat-like mass. Planting depth on light soils is 12-15 cm, on heavy soils - 6-8 cm.

Green fertilizers will give a good effect only if they grow well and develop a sufficient amount of green mass. Therefore, they require good soil preparation. In no case should you sow in undigged or rough-digged soil.

The soil must be well loosened; seeds close up shallow, especially small ones. It goes without saying that the richer the soil and the better its water-air regime, the better the growth of green manure and the higher its effect.

Different types of green fertilizers are not the same in their requirements for growing conditions. Some are water resistant, while others are drought tolerant. Some require high soil fertility, while others grow well on poor soils. According to the conditions, it is necessary to choose the culture that suits.

Table 3 shows the characteristics of soil requirements for the main crops used for green manure. The column "Removal of nutrients from the soil" characterizes the requirement for fertility: the higher the removal, the more demanding the culture.

Table 3

Features of various crops for green manure and their requirements for soil (Kant G., 1982)

*Removal of nutrients from the soil: weak +; middle ++; high +++;

** Development: slow x; fast xx; very fast xxx;

root system	Plant species	Soil nutrient removal*	Development rate**	Preferred soil type from - to	Preferred reaction from - to
nitrogen fixers
Deep, 150-200 cm	Lupine blue	+++	XX	light - medium	very acidic - neutral
	Lupine yellow	+++	X	lungs	sour
	Lupine white	+++	XXX	medium - heavy	acidic - weakly alkaline
	sweet clover	++	X	any	slightly acidic - alkaline
Medium, 80-150 cm	fodder beans	+	X	medium - heavy	slightly acidic - alkaline
	Common vetch	++	X	light - heavy	slightly acidic - alkaline
	Peas	+	X	light - heavy	slightly acidic - alkaline
	Seradella	+++	XX	lungs	very acidic - alkaline
Shallow, 0-80 cm	Vika hairy	++	wintering	any	very acidic - alkaline
	field pea	++	X	any	very acidic - alkaline
	Clover incarnate	++	wintering	any	very acidic - alkaline
	clover hybrid	+	XX	any	very acidic - alkaline
non-legumes
Deep, 150-200 cm	Sunflower	+	XXX	any	very acidic - alkaline
	Mustard	+	XXX	any	very acidic - alkaline
Medium, 80-150 cm	Buckwheat	+++	XXX	poor	acidic - neutral
	Rape	+	wintering	light - heavy	acidic - alkaline
	Surepitsa	+	wintering	light - heavy	acidic - weakly alkaline
	Oil radish	+	XX	light - heavy	acidic - weakly alkaline
	Phacelia	?	XXX	light - heavy	acidic - alkaline

When choosing a crop for green manure, it is also important to know how fast it grows, what is its productivity in terms of its ability to accumulate organic matter through photosynthesis, and what nutrients it will enrich the soil. These data, obtained under the conditions middle lane Russia are shown in Table 4.

Table 4

Characterization of crops for green manure (Tuzhilin V.M. et al., 1990)

* In the numerator - development indicators for the first year, in the denominator - for the second year.

culture	Accumulation of biomass, c/ha			Period from sowing to maximum productivity, days	Accumulated in the total biomass of nutrients, kg/ha
	green mass	Root residues	Total		N	R 2 O 5	K 2 O	Total
Lupine annual	526	80	606	80	231	63	209	503
Sweet clover yellow	189/334*	41/172	228/506	90	104/230	38/72	155/310	298/612
White sweet clover	183/420	50/120	233/540	90	113/251	46/96	142/299	301/646
Feed peas	219	85	304	80	117	71	215	403
Vika	257	54	311	90	160	73	201	434
Seradella	402	38	440	90	116	53	222	390
Oil radish	462	23	485	50	86	66	248	399
Surepitsa	343	101	444	55	135	55	241	432
Phacelia	317	26	343	60	78	52	196	327
fodder beans	157	20	177	80	58	24	59	141

When working with green manures, it is also necessary to know which botanical family each crop belongs to. This is necessary in order to establish the correct alternation of crops. Plants belonging to the same family are affected by the same pests and diseases. Therefore, you cannot place green manure and main crop belonging to the same family in a row.

For example, you cannot sow mustard, rapeseed, oil radish, belonging to the cabbage family, for green fertilizer before planting all types of cabbage belonging to the same family.

To avoid such errors, reference table 5 is provided.

Table 5

Affiliation vegetable crops and species used for green manure to botanical families

botanical family	Vegetable	Plant species recommended for green manure in garden plots
Legumes (nitrogen stores)	Beans, beans, peas, soybeans	Clover, spring and winter vetch, field and field peas, yellow, white, blue lupins, fodder beans
Cabbage (cruciferous)	Types of cabbage, leaf mustard, radish, radish, turnip, watercress, swede	Mustard, oilseed radish, spring and winter rapeseed, colza
Celery (umbrella)	Carrots, parsnips, parsley, celery, cumin, dill, fennel	—
Aster (composite)	All types of lettuce, chicory	Sunflower
Cygnus (halloween)	Spinach, beetroot, chard	—
Onion (lily)	All types of onions, garlic	—
Pumpkin	Cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, zucchini, zucchini, melon	—
Valerian	Valerian vegetable	—
Nightshade	Tomato, potato, pepper, eggplant	—
hydrophiles	—	Phacelia
bluegrass	Corn	Rye, oats, wheat
Buckwheat	Rhubarb, sorrel	Buckwheat

Characteristics of crops used for green manure

Broad beans are a rich source of nitrogen. Better than other legumes grow on heavy soils; well tolerated negative temperatures and therefore in areas with mild winter suitable for winter sowing. Some plants die in winter. In the spring, the above-ground part is mowed and used for compost. The roots and remains of dead plants are buried in the soil. Beans can be grown mixed with vetch and field peas. Seeding depth 4-6 cm. Seeding in rows or scattered. Seeding rate 22-30 g/m 2 .

Winter vetch, or hairy, like all legumes, enriches the soil with nitrogen, organic matter. It is sown in autumn after harvesting the main crop. Sow in rows or scattered to a depth of 1 cm, mixed with some cereal component that serves as support for weak vetch stems (winter rye or wheat). First, vetch is sown, and after a few days - rye. Vika is undemanding to the soil, tolerates low negative temperatures, drought and shading. In the northern and middle regions, it is sown on July 1-20, in the southern - in August. In areas with mild winters, vetch is embedded in the soil in early spring, and if it is in danger of freezing in severe winters, late in autumn. With broadcast sowing, the seeding rate is 7–9 g/m2. Vetch is a good predecessor for nitrogen-demanding crops.

Spring vetch is grown for green manure in areas with severe winters, where winter vetch freezes. Often used mixed with oats or broad beans. It is sown in early spring as a precursor to late crops, such as late cabbage, and planted in the soil before flowering.

Spring vetch can also be sown in the second half of summer after harvesting early vegetable crops and planted in the soil before frost. Vika is a good food for goats and rabbits.

Field peas, pelyushka - grows rapidly and develops a large green mass. Cold-resistant plant, recommended for northern regions mixed with vetch and oats. Enriches the soil with nitrogen and organic matter. With broadcast sowing, the seeding rate is 15 g/m 2 .

Mustard is a very popular plant and most widely used as a green manure in household plots especially in Germany. It enriches the soil with organic matter, phosphorus and sulfur (due to the fact that mustard roots convert these substances from soil minerals into a water-soluble state).

Mustard germinates quickly and quickly accumulates green mass. It can be sown any time the soil is free: before, after sowing and between major crops. Optimal time cultivation - 8-10 weeks, when it develops a large green mass and just begins to bloom.

But if you have a shorter period of time at your disposal, then it is still advisable to sow mustard, which will not only provide organic matter, but also prevent nutrients from being washed out of the soil by binding them in their roots. Mustard must not be allowed to seed, otherwise it can turn into an annoying weed. If the mustard is repaired in the fall, then next year its organic mass will gradually decompose, releasing the nitrogen associated with it. Sowing mustard - good remedy from the wireworm.

Mustard calls fertile soil and especially - fertilizers with nitrogen, since nitrogen itself does not fix from the air, like legumes. Does not tolerate drought well. It cannot serve as a precursor for cabbage, as it is affected by the same diseases and pests. With broadcast sowing, the seeding rate is 4 g / m 2, for protection against wireworm - 5-6 g / m 2.

Buckwheat - different rapid growth. Enriches the soil with organic matter, phosphorus and potassium. Particularly recommended in heavy soils, as its deep branched root system greatly improves the soil structure.

Buckwheat is sown in the spring (7 g / m 2), embedded in the soil in late autumn. The above-ground part can be mowed and used for compost. It is mostly used for sowing between rows. fruit crops.

Clover requires at least two years of cultivation to obtain the desired effect, so its use for the garden plot is limited. Can be used between rows of fruit crops. White, red (meadow) and incarnate clover are suitable for this purpose.

White clover enriches the soil with nitrogen and potassium. It grows very quickly, is resistant to cold, but does not tolerate the acid reaction of the soil and therefore needs liming. Sowing - in spring or summer; close up in the soil before flowering. When sown in August, the seeding is done in the spring. Seeding rate 2.8 g/m 2 . Embedding to a depth of 1-2 cm.

Red clover is suitable for areas with good moisture. Sowing in early summer, planting in spring.

Incarnate clover is not resistant to freezing and can only be used in the southern regions.

Lupins. Annual species are used in garden plots: blue (narrow-leaved), yellow and white. Lupins are most common in Germany, where they are called the "blessing of sandy soils". But they give a good effect on loams.

Lupins enrich the soil with organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus. It is assumed that microorganisms live on their roots, which can convert insoluble phosphates into an accessible form. Lupine green manure is close to manure in terms of nutritional value.

Plants are sown in late summer or late spring. Buried into the soil approximately 8 weeks after sowing, when the flower buds appear, before they have acquired color. Later, the stems become woody and slowly decompose.

Lupine is sown in rows to a depth of 2.5 cm. The distance between rows is from 15 to 30 cm, between plants - from 5 to 15 cm. At large distances, weeding is facilitated. In planting lupine, you can plant corn, which remains after harvesting lupine and receives rich nitrogen and phosphorus nutrition.

After embedding lupine in the soil, the next crop is sown immediately. If the lupine is left to grow for a longer time, the above ground part is mowed down and used for compost. Lupine is considered the best predecessor for strawberries.

Lupine blue has a faster growth rate and develops a deeper root system than other lupines, and is also more resistant to cold. It is most suitable for the northern regions, grows well on sandy loamy soils, and is not sensitive to acidity.

Lupine yellow of all lupins is the least demanding on the soil and not very sensitive to acidity, but does not tolerate alkaline reaction soil, requires good moisture.

White lupine is the most demanding on soil fertility and not very sensitive to acidity. Of all types of lupine, it gives the largest green mass.

All lupins require well-drained and weed-free soil. When planted late in July or August, the plants are planted in the fall, and in areas with mild winters, in the spring.

Alfalfa is a perennial legume with a deep root system. Enriches the soil with organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus. Spring sowing is buried in the soil or mowed before flowering, until the stems are woody.

The mowed mass is used for compost, and the roots decompose in the soil. Alfalfa grows best in the southern regions, where it produces up to five cuts per year. The soil is not very demanding. With broadcast sowing, the seeding rate is 2.5–3 g/m 2 .

Oats enrich the soil with organic matter and potassium. Usually used in a mixture with vetch or peas. Sowing in spring, embedding before flowering. The above-ground mass is mowed and buried in the soil.

Rapeseed, like mustard, is from the cabbage family. Enriches the soil with organic matter, phosphorus and sulfur. Quite demanding on soil conditions, grows poorly on poorly cultivated, humus-poor soils with an acidic reaction. Dislikes sandy and heavy damp soils.

The continuous sowing of rapeseed on rich, high nitrogen soils contributes to the binding of nitrates and reduces their leaching into ground water. Rape has a deep and branched root system, which has a structuring and loosening effect on the soil and subsoil.

For sowing small seeds of rapeseed, well loosened and leveled soil is required, the seeding rate is 2.8 g/m 2 .

Spring rapeseed is sown in July or August (southern regions) and embedded in the soil before flowering or mowed down for compost. Winter rapeseed can be sown in autumn and left for the winter as a protective soil cover. During severe winters, it dies.

Oilseed radish easily adapts to various climatic conditions and to any soil, so its cultivation is not big problems. Due to the deep root system that extracts water from deep layers, it tolerates drought well.

It is used as a leavening agent on compacted soils. Sowing is possible from early June to early September, and in the southern regions - until mid-September. The later the sowing, the higher the sowing rate: the average rate is 2 - 3 g / m 2. Oilseed radish can be sown in a mixture with spring vetch as its support. For 1 g of radish seeds - 6 g of vetch seeds (per 1 m 2).

Oilseed radish grows rapidly, develops a large amount of root and leaf mass, which makes it possible to reduce the dose of organic and nitrogen fertilizers. The green mass is closed up late in the fall, having previously chopped with a shovel. If the plants have overgrown and formed woody stems, it is best to use them on compost. Oilseed radish actively suppresses nematodes.

Winter rye is most suitable for winter sowing. They close it in the spring, with a stem height of about 60 cm, before they begin to lignify. Young and tender plants quickly decompose and enrich the soil with organic matter, nitrogen and potassium. Rougher plants decompose more slowly and release nitrogen more slowly. Seeding rate 9 g/m 2 .

Rye is very good plant to improve the physical properties of the soil, but its disadvantage is a strong drying effect on the soil. Therefore, its sowing in the aisles of fruit trees can only be used in conditions of sufficient moisture, otherwise the fruit yield will be greatly reduced. Rye is also used mixed with vetch.

The turnip is a plant from the cabbage family, which has the advantage over rapeseed that it makes less demands on the soil and is adapted to later sowing dates - until mid-September. The rape grows well on both light and heavy structureless soils, so it can be used to cultivate new areas.

Spring rape can be sown early in spring before the main crop, winter rape in autumn and left until spring. Seeding rate 1-2 g/m 2 .

Bred in Germany, a hybrid of rapeseed and Chinese cabbage is called perko. It is suitable for late sowing, gives a large mass of leaves, frost-resistant. In autumn, it forms only a rosette of leaves without a stem, so it is easy to incorporate into the soil.

Phacelia grows very quickly, forming a large green mass. Unpretentious, grown in a wide variety of conditions, on poor sandy or stony soils. Phacelia is a good honey plant. If sown from spring to early June, it will bloom all summer and autumn. Blooms 6 weeks after sowing. Seeding rate 8-10 g/m 2 .

Phacelia is considered in Germany an ideal plant for gardeners. It belongs to the hydrophilic family and therefore can be the precursor of any vegetable crop. Its tender leaves and stem decompose quickly and serve well. nitrogen fertilizer. Phacelia is sown in rows or scattered.

Green fertilizer in crop rotation in the garden

At first glance, it may seem that in a heavily used small area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe garden plot it is difficult to find a place for green manure. However, upon closer inspection, you will find a ton of opportunities to sow them.

If you remember the important rule of organic farming - never leave the ground uncovered with plants, you will see how often your beds are empty after harvesting the crop that occupied them.

The simplest form of green manure is a fast growing crop that is planted before, after, or in between vegetable crops.

For early spring plantings, before planting the main crop, for example, tomato or cabbage seedlings, fast-growing plants are used: mustard, rapeseed, oilseed radish. Approximately two weeks before planting the seedlings, green manure is raked into the soil or mowed and used as mulch.

German gardeners offer to use a rather unusual crop - watercress - as a green fertilizer. Its seeds germinate very quickly - in two to three days. Watercress can be sown early in the spring under a film on those beds where late vegetable crops are supposed to be planted in May. Two weeks before planting, young cress plants are raked into the soil.

There is another way to use watercress and mustard: they are not buried in the soil, but left to grow in the aisles, and only in those places where seedlings should be planted, the watercress plants are pulled out, grooves are made, appropriate fertilizers are applied to them and planting seedlings or seeds. Pulled plants mulch the soil around the seedlings.

Among cress or mustard plants, you can grow kohlrabi, broccoli, sweet corn, cauliflower, chard, celery, and tomatoes. Young plants grow well under the cover of cress or mustard. When the cress gets too tall and interferes with the main crop, it is pulled up and used as mulch.

In winter, watercress dies off and forms a winter mulch that protects and loosens the soil. Snails are very fond of watercress, so they will eat it first and not touch the vegetable seedlings.

More opportunities are presented by the autumn sowing of green manure after early crops.

If the crop is harvested early and 70-80 days remain until the end of the growing season, lupine, pea-oat mixture, vetch-oat mixture, phacelia, spring and winter rapeseed, spring and winter colza, white mustard, oil radish, perko are used for green fertilizer.

With later harvesting, when 50-60 days remain until the end of the growing season, fast-growing crops can be sown: spring rapeseed, spring colza, perko, mustard, oilseed radish.

You can plant them in the soil in the fall after frost, but you can leave them to grow for the winter, when they, having died naturally under the influence of frost, cover the soil with a protective blanket. In spring, dead plants are buried in the soil, and they quickly decompose.

Winter rye can also be used for autumn sowing. It overwinters and grows back in the spring. Rye suppresses weeds well and develops a large green mass. In the spring, it is mowed down and buried in the soil. This is a rather laborious operation and requires a three-week interval before sowing the next crop, which is necessary for the decomposition of the embedded plant mass.

If the vegetable crop remains in the ground until late autumn, then you can do the following. Shortly before harvest, loosen and water the soil and plant a cover crop between vegetable plants. By the time of harvesting, young plants will develop well and take root and form, as it were, a living mulch.

In conditions of sufficient moisture, green fertilizer can be sown directly in the aisle. For example, in Bulgaria it is recommended to grow barley, vetch, peas, beans and their mixtures for green manure between tomato plants.

Tomatoes generally respond well to green manure. There is evidence that they grow well on their own residues. In autumn, the tops of tomatoes can be crushed and planted in the soil in those beds where tomatoes are supposed to be grown next year, that is, tomatoes themselves can serve as green fertilizer.

Experiences in Yaroslavl region showed that mustard is a good green manure for onions. If at the beginning of August mustard is sown in the area intended for next year for onions, and at the end of October it is planted in the soil, then this helps to enrich the soil and enhance its biological activity, and as a result, the onion yield and its quality increase significantly.

With regard to green manure for potatoes, there are quite specific recommendations that are well applicable in field cultivation and difficult to implement in a garden plot.

Here we can only say that if it is possible to introduce a cereal-bean mixture into the alternation of crops, which grows all summer or the second half of summer after harvesting an early crop and is planted in the soil in autumn, then it is a very good predecessor for potatoes.

In Germany, to suppress nematodes that serve as a carrier of a viral disease of potatoes - glandular tuber spot, oil radish is sown and planted in the soil before planting potatoes. Oil radish is more active than other types of green fertilizer in suppressing the spread of nematodes.

The methods listed above help to maintain the soil in good condition and replenish the annual natural loss of organic matter due to mineralization. If the soil requires more serious measures for its improvement, then more time is needed for this.

One of possible ways is to introduce one plot into the crop rotation of the garden, which will be occupied by a crop that restores soil fertility throughout the season. This culture, moving to a new site every year, will cover the entire area of ​​​​your garden at the end of the crop rotation cycle.

This area is treated as follows: in autumn or early spring it is dug up and compost is applied, the surface is leveled with a rake and vetch is sown to a depth of 3-5 cm. The seeding rate is 17 g / m 2. After germination, the vetch is mowed.

The wet beveled mass is sprinkled with a mixture of bone and horn meal at a dose of 51 g/m 2 and left for a week. Withered greens are embedded in the soil, the surface is leveled with a rake and rye is sown at the rate of 13 g / m 2.

Late in the autumn, the rye is mowed and the soil is dug up, mixing together with the green mass and roots. For the winter, the site is left roughly dug up, in the spring they dig up and plant potatoes. And it pays off with the yields of subsequent crops.

Another method is aimed at increasing the reserves of nitrogen in the soil. Early in the spring, alfalfa or clover is sown, it is possible in combination with oats. Oats grow faster. It is mowed when the legumes are well established and left as a mulch. In addition to enriching the soil with nitrogen, clover and alfalfa, with their powerful deep roots, loosen the subsoil and improve drainage.

Clover and alfalfa give their best effect after two years of cultivation, but since this is rarely possible in garden conditions, one has to be content with what they can do in one year. This is also a lot.

If there is no possibility or desire to allocate a separate plot for soil improvement, a plot with some early crop should be used. You can also use a plot of strawberries of the fourth year. Immediately after the last harvest, the plot is vacated and a mixture of winter vetch and rye is sown.

They are left for the winter, and in early spring green mass close up in the soil. For 4-6 weeks, plant residues decompose, and you can occupy the area with the main crop, preferably cabbage. If the next crop is root crops, then the green mass is mowed and used for compost.

Vetch roots left in the ground quickly decompose and enrich the soil with nitrogen, while rye roots restore soil structure and improve soil health. Thus, the lost fertility will be restored on each site every five years.

Instead of vetch and rye, you can use other components of the cereal-bean mixture: narrow-leaved lupine, peas, broad beans, from cereals - barley, oats, wheat. The plant mass can be closed up not in spring, but in autumn.

The positive effect of green fertilizer lasts up to five years. The maximum of this action is manifested in the second or third year, when the plant residues with the help of microorganisms will be completely converted into the form of humus.

Stefan Ogden believes that winter rye, which survives the winter and is incorporated into the soil as a green mass in the spring, takes too long to decompose and therefore pushes back time. spring sowing for 3-4 weeks. Therefore, he prefers to sow an annual cereal crop, such as an annual ryegrass, after harvesting vegetables. This type of cereal grows rapidly and manages to develop a large green mass before frost. In winter, it dies off and, when planted in the soil in autumn, quickly decomposes. We will give from Ogden's book two examples of the use of green manure in the rotation of crops in a garden plot. Note that for a farmer, the year begins in autumn.

Example 1:

• First year. Autumn - application of manure or compost, liming, sowing of annual ryegrass. Summer is cabbage.
• Second year. Autumn - sowing clover between cabbage plants. Summer - tomatoes, peppers, eggplants.
• Third year. Autumn - sowing ryegrass after harvesting the main crop. Summer - root crops.
• Fourth year. Autumn - buckwheat or ryegrass. Summer - peas and beans.

Example 2:

• First year. Autumn - application of manure or compost, liming, sowing of annual ryegrass. Summer - green crops.
• Second year. Autumn is the sowing of clover. Summer - pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers.
• Third year. Autumn - sowing ryegrass. Summer - onions, garlic.
• Fourth year. Autumn is the sowing of clover. Summer - corn, potatoes.

This is only one of the possibilities, corresponding to certain climatic and soil conditions. Each gardener, when planning green manure, should proceed from the crops available to him and the specific conditions of his garden.

It is only necessary to remember that legumes do not form nodules before flowering, and if they do not have time to bloom during early spring or autumn sowing, they will not give the desired increase in the nitrogen content in the soil. Sowing seeds for green manure is usually carried out randomly, and quite densely. Under this condition, green manure can perform another function - weed suppression.

Green manure allows you to reduce the use of other fertilizers. In Ogden's examples, the main fertilization is done in the fall of the first year: 16 buckets per 10 m 2.

When planting seedlings of tomatoes and pumpkin crops, a handful of compost and bone meal (or phosphate) is added to each hole.

Before sowing root crops, potassium-rich wood ash is added, since these crops love potassium.

Compost is added under onions and garlic, covering the soil with a layer of 2-3 cm. Under potatoes, compost is also introduced into furrows or holes.

Green fertilizer for fruit trees

There is quite a lot of literature on the use of green manure in industrial gardens. Some of the techniques offered there are also suitable for a garden plot.

In large gardens, green manure is usually sown between rows. The usefulness of this technique seems to be no longer in doubt. It has been proven that green fertilizer between rows significantly increases the yield of fruits. In garden plots, you can also cover the area around fruit trees with green manure.

The question is whether it is necessary to leave the near-stem circles clean of plants and, if necessary, at what distance from the trunks.

So, apple trees have a shallow root system, and when the near-stem circles are planted, competition between the roots occurs, which has a particularly negative effect on the yield with insufficient moisture. If the trunk circles are left clear of plants, the turfing of the surrounding area has a positive effect on the yield.

Mulching

It is often customary for our gardeners to dig up the beds after harvesting, remove all weeds, level the surface with a rake and leave everything in this form until next spring. “Let the earth rest,” they say. Organic growers see things differently.

Magda-Helena Schroeder, a gardener from Germany, expressed their point of view very well: “When I ride in a train or in a car and see on the sides of the road, carefully cleaned and dug gardens, where the bare surface of the earth is open to all the vicissitudes of the weather: frost, winds, rains, strong solar radiation- an ancient instinct wakes up in me. I feel like a mother who sees a sleeping child open up in a dream, throwing off a blanket. I want to stop, go out and lovingly cover this land. I want to spread my duvet on this earth - mulch!

For those who do not know this word, we explain: mulch is any decomposable organic material covering the soil surface.

When the soil surface is open, the uppermost, most important for plant nutrition and the most fertile layer is in very adverse conditions. Rains wash away nutrients from it, it either dries up or freezes, living organisms go into the depths, and intensive mineralization of humus occurs in it. In general, uncovered soil gradually loses its fertility.

What happens during mulching? Under a thick layer of mulch in damp warm atmosphere teeming with a variety of soil organisms, for which the mulch also serves as food. Under their action, it gradually decomposes, enriching the soil with humus. So compare: bare soil - mineralization and loss of humus and nutrients; mulched soil - enrichment with humus.

Plants also benefit from mulch, as it retains moisture in the soil and inhibits weed growth. In order for the mulch to fulfill its purpose, its layer must be at least 5-8 cm thick. A 15 cm thick layer of mulch almost completely suppresses the growth of weeds and eliminates the need for weeding.

Under a layer of mulch are created excellent conditions for feeding and reproduction of earthworms. It prevents the formation of soil crust after rain and therefore reduces the need for frequent loosening.

Magda-Helena Schroeder advises keeping the entire garden under mulch all year round. She calls it "total mulching." But to this it is necessary to make a reservation that warns against mulching in some conditions.

On heavy, clayey and damp soils, a thick layer of mulch can have a negative effect on plant growth. In the spring, beds covered with thick mulch warm up slowly. This is especially bad during a long cold spring. Therefore, in early spring, it is better to remove the mulch from the beds so that they warm up well in the sun before sowing.

In hot, dry weather, you can cover the aisle with a mulch of cut grass to retain moisture. Aisles can also be mulched with compost, foliage. In wet, cold weather, it is not worth mulching the aisles, as slugs accumulate under the mulch and the risk of fungal diseases increases.

In all cases, the mulch should be placed at some distance from the stem or trunk of the plant, leaving a free and well-ventilated space around them.

Mulching materials fall into two categories: coarser and less coarse. Straw, hay, shavings, ferns, fallen leaves, peat serve as coarse mulch. Straw is very good for mulching garden strawberries, it suppresses weeds and serves as a good bedding for berries. Strawberry's fondness for straw mulch is reflected in its English name, which literally means "straw berry". Strawberries are also recommended to be mulched with pine or spruce needles, which have a good effect on its taste.

A thick layer of coarse mulch is covered with beds to protect against freezing planted before winter. bulbous plants. For winter mulching of rhubarb, it is recommended to use fallen tree leaves.

A bed of rhubarb is fenced with a wire mesh about 30 cm high and filled with densely packed foliage in the fall. When young shoots appear on the surface in spring, the leaves are removed and tender light-colored stems are harvested, which have a pleasant aroma and taste better than those grown under cover from a bucket or box.

For the winter, woody leaves mulch the ground around berry bushes and raspberries, as well as near-stem circles of fruit trees. To do this, an area of ​​\u200b\u200bup to 4 m 2 is enclosed with a grid near the tree and filled with fallen leaves, but not close to the trunk, but at a distance of about 50 cm, so that a ring with an unfilled middle forms around the tree. The outer border of the ring coincides with the border of the crown.

Leaves can be left for three years, they are a good surface top dressing. Because on the leaves fruit crops pathogens of these crops may persist, it is recommended to use the foliage of other crops under the trees or shrubs of some crops.

Chips and sawdust contain a lot of tannins, so they are first composted and used only in a well-rotted state.

The advice to use cardboard for mulching may seem rather unusual. We often throw away used carton boxes without knowing that they can be used in the garden. It is good to line the paths with cardboard. Topped with a layer of straw or sand, it retards the growth of weeds very well.

Mulch made from fresh plants, such as grass clippings, can also serve as a good top dressing. An excellent material for mulching is provided by alfalfa. Experiments have shown that the introduction of relatively small amounts of freshly cut mass of alfalfa into the soil increases the yield of many crops. If spread evenly and lightly incorporated into the soil, it will improve the soil structure and increase the nitrogen content.

Alfalfa mulch is especially effective when soil nitrogen levels are low. A layer of alfalfa mulch 7-8 cm thick delays rain water, inhibits the growth of weeds, keeps the soil moist, loose and cool and enriches with nitrogen.
Alfalfa can be grown on a lawn or in a designated, well-drained sunny area with neutral soil reaction. The soil should be fertilized with phosphorus and potassium. Lucerne - perennial and can grow in one place from three to five years. When it begins to degenerate, the sowing of alfalfa is transferred to another place.

English gardeners prefer to use comfrey for mulching, which is their favorite green manure. The green mass of comfrey is very rich in nitrogen and potassium.

Nutrient elements are concentrated in comfrey leaves, but they are poor in those hardly decomposable organic substances (hemicellulose and lignin), which serve as a source of soil humus. Therefore, it is not suitable for enriching the soil with organic matter, but is used mainly as potash fertilizer. The balance of minerals in comfrey is ideal for fertilizing potatoes.

Comfrey, like alfalfa, is grown on a separate bed. When the plants reach a height of 45 cm, they are cut and this first cut is used to fertilize early potatoes. To do this, comfrey plants line trenches intended for planting potatoes, the depth of which is 30 cm, the width is 20 cm, the tubers are laid out on top and covered with soil.
Comfrey gives 4-5 cuttings over the summer. The following cuttings are used as a potassium-rich mulch for vegetable crops and for the preparation of liquid fertilizer.

For mulching the soil surface, you can use the mowed mass of any green fertilizer, which for some reason cannot be embedded in the soil.

English gardeners use nettles for mulching. Young nettle plants are laid out along rows of vegetables to repel slugs and snails. In addition, they believe that nettle has a beneficial effect on the growth of vegetable plants.
Remember what organic gardeners say: whoever doesn't respect mulch doesn't know the value of humus.

liquid green manure

In organic farming, liquid fertilizers are mainly made from plants, manure and compost. They contain nutrients in the form of soluble organic compounds.

If you see that your plants are developing poorly and they are clearly lacking something, and especially if there are characteristic signs of nutrient deficiency - pale color, yellowing or reddening of the leaves - you need to urgently correct the situation and do it the easiest way with liquid fertilizers .

Liquid fertilizers are also used during the period most responsible for the future harvest, when it is necessary to obtain rapid and abundant growth, or when the fruits are ripening and filling.

Some gardeners believe that watering the most demanding crops, such as cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, should never be done. clean water, but only with a weak solution of liquid fertilizer. Such top dressing is enough to do every 10-14 days.

Liquid fertilizers can be used for watering under the root, and for spraying the leaves as a foliar top dressing. Foliar top dressing allows you to quickly eliminate the lack of nitrogen or potassium. It works faster than fertilizer applied to the soil.

In intensive cultivation and very dense plantings, foliar spraying is often the only way to fertilize the plants. Spraying the leaves is carried out every 2-3 weeks, using a 2-fold weaker solution than when cultivating the soil.

German gardeners' favorite liquid fertilizer is fermented nettle infusion. For its preparation, fresh nettles are used, which are harvested in spring and summer before the formation of seeds. You can also use dry nettles. Fertilizer is made in a wooden, plastic or clay container. Metal utensils are not recommended as nettle infusion may react with metal. The vessel is filled with finely chopped nettles and poured with water, preferably rain or well-settled, heated in the sun.

They are not filled to the very top, as the volume of liquid will increase during fermentation, and then covered with a net so that small animals do not get in. At least once a day, the mass must be vigorously stirred. When decomposed, it acquires a strong bad smell, the intensity of which can be reduced by throwing a handful of ground rock on top (you can - a handful of dust) or adding a little valerian leaf extract.

When the infusion becomes dark in color and stops foaming, it means that the fermentation is over. Usually one and a half to two weeks is enough for this. In the sun, the fermentation process is accelerated. After that, the vessel can be closed with a lid with holes for air access.

For irrigation under the root, unstrained infusion is used, diluted 10 times (9 parts of water per 1 part of infusion); for spraying the leaves, the infusion is filtered and diluted 20 times (19 parts of water to 1 part of the infusion). Dilute immediately before use.

Nettle infusion is an excellent liquid fertilizer for horticultural crops. It has a healing effect on plants, stimulates growth and the formation of chlorophyll. The earth watered with nettle infusion is loved by earthworms. Most vegetable crops, flowers and fruit crops respond well to this fertilizer; the exceptions are peas, beans, onions, garlic.

In England, they prefer to use liquid fertilizer from comfrey, which is especially recommended for crops that require a lot of potassium and a little nitrogen (tomatoes, cucumbers, beans). In terms of potassium content, comfrey is superior to manure and slightly behind it in terms of phosphorus content.

To prepare an infusion of comfrey, 800 g of fresh chopped plants are poured into 10 liters of water and left for 4 weeks. Used in the same way as nettle infusion. Comfrey fertilizer is suitable for all crops and is especially useful when signs of potassium deficiency appear.

Spraying the leaves with comfrey infusion quickly relieves signs of potassium deficiency: yellowing of the leaves around the edges and the appearance of brown spots. In comfrey infusion, the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium is 3:1:7.

To feed tomatoes, you can make infusions from tomato shoots. The same infusions are made from a mixture different plants. Nettle is mixed with comfrey and various weeds: tansy, shepherd's purse, chamomile, snapdragon, horsetail. Shepherd's purse is especially rich in trace elements. To enrich liquid fertilizer, add to the mixture in non- large quantities aromatic herbs, onion, garlic, bird droppings, bone meal, wood ash.

An excellent, well-balanced nutrient can be prepared as follows: a few scoops of manure or compost are placed in a hemp bag. A few tablespoons of phosphorite are also added there, wood ash, crushed alfalfa, blood and bone meal and other materials that you consider necessary to add. The bag is tightly tied and immersed in a bucket of water, the bucket is covered with a lid. The liquid is agitated every two days to allow water to enter the bag and carry the nutrients out of it.

After one to two weeks, the extract is a dark brown liquid, suitable for watering adults and young plants. It does not scorch the leaves, so it can be used undiluted or in any desired dilution.
All diseased and lignified plant parts should be burned and the ashes used as a source of potassium.

As a liquid fertilizer, you can use an infusion of compost, manure or bird droppings. To do this, the container is filled with 1/8 - 1/4 of the volume with compost or manure and filled with water. Different authors give different ratios source material and water; some think it doesn't matter much.

The infusion is kept for 1-2 days, stirring occasionally, and as a result, a dark-colored liquid is obtained. For watering, it is diluted to a light brown color (weak tea). Diluted compost infusion is very useful for watering seedlings, which take root faster, getting easily accessible nutrition for their still weak roots.

Soaking seeds in a compost infusion improves germination and accelerates initial growth.

Another rather ingenious method has been invented for feeding plants. They take an old bucket, iron or plastic, pierce many holes in the side walls with a nail and bury the bucket in the ground so that the upper edge is at the level of the soil surface.

A bucket is filled with compost and various vegetables are planted around it, for example, tomatoes or cucumbers. At the next watering, all the water is poured into a bucket of compost, and it, seeping through the compost layer and holes in the side walls, enters the enriched plants. nutrients that she took out of the compost.

organic fertilizers production

In order to improve the chemical and physical properties soil, increase its fertility, resort to phytomelioration.

Thanks to the use of phytomeliorant plants, the soil can be cleared of diseases and pests, weeds can be reduced, pollution can be reduced, etc.

Phytomeliorants include green manure plants and concentrator plants.

Green manure is grown as green manure. This is one of the most effective ways restore soil fertility.

Legumes and other plants or their mixtures are used as green manure. Legumes enrich the soil with nitrogen. As a green fertilizer, fodder peas, fodder beans, narrow-leaved lupine, beans, phacelia, seradella, vetch, clover, yellow and white sweet clover are most often used.

Green fertilizer is able to heal the soil. In this regard, the most suitable are plants of the cruciferous family - radish, rapeseed, mustard, colza. They suppress the growth of weeds due to their rapid development. In addition, pests such as wireworm do not like mustard, and marigolds and spring rape can destroy several types of nematodes.

Also, planting cruciferous plants prevents leaching of mineral elements from the soil, and mustard helps plants get sparingly soluble phosphates.

If the soil is light, then phytomeliorants will increase its moisture capacity, and on heavy soil they will improve the water regime.

Concentrator plants absorb certain elements in large quantities, i.e. are phytoremedians. They are planted in order to cleanse the soil of heavy metals. If you use these plants every year, then the level of heavy elements in the soil will decrease significantly.

➣ Legumes can accumulate 6 times more radioactive elements than cereals.

To cleanse the soil from radioactive elements, it is necessary to plant barley, alfalfa, mustard, sunflower, dwarf or downy birch.

Plants that go to green manure are crushed and then buried in the soil. Dropped during budding and at the beginning of flowering, because it is at this time that they contain a large amount of biologically active substances. On light soils, plants are planted to a depth of 12-15 cm, on heavy soils - 6-8 cm.

"Green manure" refers to green manure plants that are temporarily grown in open, unoccupied areas of the soil or as an adjacent crop. The functions of green manure are improving the structure of the soil, preventing the leaching and weathering of useful substances from it, suppressing the growth of weeds, and also enriching the soil with nitrogen. The process of sowing, growing and preserving "green manure" in the soil is called green manure.

One of important rules organic farming– must not remain unused and open. For a long time (for weeks or longer), open areas of soil are subject to significant deterioration in structure and depletion. Aimlessly abandoned open ground in the garden, over time, it hardens, sticks together and becomes covered with a dense crust, through which moisture hardly penetrates deep into. The organic composition deteriorates, useful substances are washed out and weathered. With a complete lack of control and competition, a massive dominance of weeds begins, which also use useful substances from the soil, without giving it anything in return. Subsequently, the gardener has more work to do, as several weeding, digging and fertilizing will now be required to make the site usable again. Obviously, it was better to take care in the beginning that the soil was not left open.

Here green manure comes to the aid of the gardener - a technology known to farmers since ancient times. According to the results of their impact on the soil, green manure crops can compete with manure, so they are simply irreplaceable for those farmers who fundamentally do not want to use animal waste to fertilize vegetables and fruits.

How siderates work

Green manure crops develop dense, fast-closing foliage that inhibits weed growth. Some of them (for example, rye) have interesting feature delay the germination of other seeds and thus delay the emergence of new weeds for several weeks. Green manure has a well-developed and highly branched root system, which helps to improve the structure and permeability of the soil: penetrating deep inside, it loosens and enriches heavy soils with air. clay soils and supports light, sandy from disintegration. Developed roots also help bring nutrients from deeper layers of the soil upward, closer to the roots of edible or ornamental crops, between which "green manure" is grown. Green manures have the peculiarity of enhancing the effect of other fertilizers and accelerating microbiological processes in the soil.

Green manure planted among vegetable crops partially take the hit garden pests, and partially scares them away from landings, simply confusing. At the same time, the bright and nectar-filled flowers of most green manure crops - excellent honey plants - are able to attract bees and bumblebees to plantings, which simultaneously pollinate fruits and vegetables growing in the neighborhood. The most effective "green manure" are plants from the legume family. Special bacteria that live in their root growths have the ability to accumulate nitrogen, which they receive directly from the air and deposit in the soil.

Where and when is green manure applied:

• Between other edible or ornamental plants, in voids
• As an adjacent early maturing crop among long maturing crops (eg parsnips, root celery, leeks, etc.).
• Between old harvest and new plantings
• In the off-season, at the end of summer or autumn before winter
• To rest the soil from intensive use for a whole year

The choice of green manure crops

The choice of a specific crop for sowing as a "green manure" depends on such factors as the composition and structure of the soil in your garden, for how long you intend to use green manure, etc. If you use rotation (alternation) of vegetable crops, then each season is near with vegetables, sow green manure from the same family. Thus, "green manure" will partially take on the possible attacks of harmful microorganisms and insects that affect this family, and rid your vegetables of them. The choice of suitable green manure crops also depends on whether the this moment the need to enrich the soil with nitrogen. The table below provides more detailed information about the various green manures and their features.

green manure culture	Preferred soil type	Nitrogen conservation	Vegetation cycle / sowing time
Alfalfa blue (Medicago sativa)	Except sour and wet	Yes	from year
Alfalfa hop-like (Medicago lupilina)	Except sour	Yes	From 3 months
horse beans (Vicia faba)	heavy	Yes	Under the winter
Vika, peas (Vicia sativa)	Except sour and dry	Yes	2-3 months
meat red clover (Trifolium incarnatum)	Lungs	Yes	2-3 months before winter
red clover (Trifolium pratense)	rich loams	Yes	3-18 months
Fenugreek hay, Greek hay (Trigonella foenum-graecum)	moisture permeable	Yes	2-3 months
Lupine narrow-leaved and other species (Lupinus angustifolius)	light sour wet	Yes	2-4 months
White sweet clover (Melilotus albus)	Any, incl. poor	Not	Under the winter
Sainfoin sandy (Onobrychis arenaria)	Any, incl. poor	Yes	from year
China sowing (Lathyrus sativus)		Yes	2-4 months
Horned Loot * (Lotus corniculatus)	Any	Yes	from year
Seradella sativa (Ornythopus sativus)	Any wet	Yes	2-4 months
Edible buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)	Any, incl. poor	Not	1-3 months
Phacelia tansy (Phacelia tanacetifolia)	Any	Not	1-3 months
Sowing rye ** (Secale cereale)	Any	Not	Under the winter
Mustard white (Sinapis alba)	Any, incl. poor	Not	1-2 months
Comfrey (Symphytum)	Any	Not	from year
Oil radish (Raphanus sativus)	Heavy, clayey	Not	2-3 months
Rape (Brassica napus)	Heavy, clayey	Not	Under the winter

* Only n and vacant plots of land

** Only after the shoots of the main crop

AT recent times very decorative cultivars of red clover and red clover appeared, which, in addition to being useful as green manure, will serve as an excellent decoration for the garden. With the modern garden fashion for modest meadow, field and forest plants, decorative clovers fit perfectly into the natural design.

Use of "green manure"

When you are ready to use the vacant plot of land again, lightly dig or plow the soil along with green manure to a depth of 15 cm. The "green manure" will grind a little and remain in the soil or on its surface. Decaying faster than conventional crops, green manure serves as an additional source of humus, fertilizer, moisture and baking powder for the soil.

If you are growing vegetables in raised beds using the non-digging method, then simply cut or pluck green manure and leave them here, covered with another layer of mulch.

You can further increase the efficiency of green manure crops. In areas where "green manure" will spend several months or even a year, make a few haircuts. Siderates will quickly grow back, and you will have an excellent natural fertilizer, which can be buried in the soil or spread on the surface elsewhere, or added to garden compost. The role of green manure crops in compost cannot be overestimated: due to their high nitrogen content, they accelerate the composting process, increase the content of nutrients and improve the structure of the finished compost.

The use of "green manure" is an excellent natural, ecological method of improving soil quality and increasing the yield of any crop at a low cost and relatively low labor costs. A valuable tool in the organic gardener's arsenal!

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