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Growing green manure in early spring: why it is important, what is best to sow and when
16.02.2023 06:50
Updated: 14.04.2023 02:41
Both newcomers to gardening and seasoned summer residents have heard about the incredible benefits of green manure.
Most gardeners are accustomed to sowing useful herbs at the end of the season. But it is completely in vain to neglect early spring sowing.
Sometimes they are no less important.
Why sow green manure in spring
The goal here is to saturate the soil with nutrients and structure it. Considering that many vegetable crops (cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage) are heat-loving by nature, planting their seedlings in many regions occurs only in May. And all early spring, the beds, with soil clogged after winter, are empty.
Useful herbs will help restore the qualitative composition of the soil and enrich it.
What to choose
Not every crop is suitable for spring sowing. But oats and winter rye are characterized by normal cold resistance and versatility.
They can be sown in any area immediately after the ground has thawed. Such grasses are friendly with most crops and will become good predecessors for each.
By mid-spring (April 10th), you can already sow mustard, oilseed radish, and barley seeds. However, there is a nuance here. Green manure from the cruciferous group is not planted in beds where cabbage will later grow, because they have common pests and diseases.
Deadlines for completion
Shortly before preparing the beds for planting vegetables, young, grown grass should be mown with a flat cutter and dug in superficially.
Usually by the second ten days of May it has already become significantly warmer outside, and the cut nutrient mass quickly decomposes in the soil.
Crops growing in such beds will receive complete, balanced nutrition and produce a good harvest.
