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Is it necessary to incorporate green manure into the soil and other mistakes in the cultivation of green manures
13.02.2023 17:30
Updated: 14.04.2023 01:17
There are many disputes in summer cottage circles about fertilizers alone. Even such a reliable option as green manure has not been ignored.
It would seem that there is nothing special about them: sow, mow, dig in. But it is precisely this last circumstance that confuses gardeners more and more.
Let's try to figure out whether it is worthwhile to bury green manure shoots in the soil after mowing.
Why bury it in the soil?
Supporters of this concept claim that if the useful shoots are left on the surface after being mown down, they will simply dry out in the sun, and all the useful substances will be blown away by the wind. Therefore, they need to be covered.
In the depths of the garden they will do the main thing: loosen the soil, improve aeration, water permeability and in every way improve its health.
Why leave it on the surface?
Summer residents notice that earthworms breed abundantly under the mass of mown plants, while the green manure itself dries only on top.
The bottom layer rots. It is due to the humid environment and the abundance of worms under the layer of green manure that the necessary humus is formed.
Besides, it is nothing more than mulch, protecting the soil from drying out. And all the useful substances will sooner or later go into the soil with precipitation.
It is obvious that this dispute can continue for a long time.
But there is an opinion that green manure sown in the spring and before planting the main crops should be harvested half a month before transplanting the seedlings.
Perhaps the following proposal could resolve this dispute: leave green manure between the rows.
Many gardeners leave and work green manure into the soil only during the growing season, before it outgrows and begins to choke out the main crops.
In addition, when sowing green manure, you need to remember about crop rotation, the peculiarities of some crops (oats and other cereals) to germinate and "strangle" vegetables. Rapeseed is recommended to be sown only in the second half of summer, clover is generally a perennial, and lupine is afraid of frost.
