How to Increase Tomato Yields and Protect Them from Phytophthora: Try Living Mulch
Any summer resident would like to harvest not just a good, but a truly huge tomato crop from his plot, enough for salads and preserves, and even some left over for relatives.
This result can be achieved using a method that is known among gardeners and horticulturists as “living mulch.”
Let us explain in more detail what this means.
Those who decide to use “live mulch” for tomatoes need to wait until the soil in the greenhouse thaws and plant green manure in it.
Suitable for tomatoes are oilseed radish, mustard, etc.
These crops are characterized by rapid growth - by the time it becomes necessary to transplant tomato seedlings into the ground, they will have already formed a lush green carpet that completely covers the soil in the greenhouse.
There is no need to mow it - instead, make holes in the places where you plan to plant the bushes and loosen the soil slightly. Bury the green manure that grew in the place of the hole in the holes made in the ground. You can also add a handful of crushed crackers and half a glass of ash to the holes, then water them.
After a day, you can plant tomatoes, and trim the green manure carpet as it grows.
According to farmers' observations, this method of growing tomatoes produces an unusually good harvest, and late blight bypasses the plants.
Previously we named a favorite fertilizer for peppers .
