Each harvest depletes the soil, reducing the amount of nutrients at the end of the season. The soil needs fertilizer. Corn and sunflower absorb a huge amount of micro and macroelements. Other garden crops also reduce soil fertility. Households prefer to increase the fertility of the soil using the most environmentally friendly and in natural ways. In addition to the application of organic fertilizers, green manure is widely used. It is recommended to sow fertilizer in early spring or summer in order to receive useful green fertilizer in the fall. Green manure plants are an inexpensive and very effective way to improve garden soil.
The role of green manure in agricultural technology
The process of using green manure involves sowing plant seeds, which quickly increase green mass within 30–60 days. At the same time, a large amount of vegetative mass contains all the useful substances necessary for the garden (potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen, etc.). Sowing is usually carried out in the fall, but green fertilizer can be used at other times, depending on the crop being grown. Seeds of green manure crops provide 5–7 kg of greenery per 1 sq. m. meter of vegetable garden. Sowing is done in rows, with a distance between rows of 20 cm. Mature plant has the shape of a spreading herbaceous bush. The seeds produce the first shoots within a few days.
When sowing seeds, no additional fertilizing or manipulation is required. The grass quickly increases its vegetative mass. Green manure should be mowed before flowering. Popular crops for increasing soil fertility include rye, lupine and some legumes. White mustard has proven itself well as a fertilizer for vegetable beds.
Growing healthy green manure
Sowing of green manure is carried out in the fall or at any time during the summer season. The plant is grown until the seeds ripen; the greens must be mowed with a special garden tool or a regular scythe. It is usually recommended to sow mustard as a fertilizer from March to September; maximum fertilization is possible when sowing before July. If you plant seeds from the second half of July and later, in the fall there will not be as much useful greenery for mowing.
For 1 sq. per meter of garden, 2–3 g of mustard seeds are enough; the fertilizer develops well on compacted soil. If the seed is spread on well-compacted soil, a mulch layer is recommended. Mustard usually blooms 5–7 weeks after sowing. The plant should be mowed during the budding period. You can use a special cultivator, a flat cutter or any other available tool.
Mustard as a fertilizer has a number of advantages over other green manure crops. Developed root system penetrates deeply into the soil. Main feature mustard is able to absorb fertilizers and poorly soluble nutrients that are not available to other crops. You can plant mustard as a fertilizer in any area.
In open, windy areas, the plant is also used to protect beds from strong gusts of wind.
It is important not only to plant green manure correctly, but also to cut it in time. After flowering, the ovary quickly forms. When the ovary, even after mowing, falls into the ground, the seeds begin to grow. In this case, instead of benefit, you can get an ordinary weed, which will cause a lot of trouble.
The benefits of mustard for the site
The benefits of the cruciferous plant are widely known. Mustard is a good honey plant, green feed for livestock and effective fertilizer for the garden. The seeds are used in food, as a spice and in medicine, as a disinfectant. The mustard plant as a fertilizer has a beneficial effect on garden beds. Greens have a balanced composition of nutrients: 0.7% nitrogen, 0.5% potassium, 0.9% phosphorus and up to 25% active organic compounds. The plant also contains large amounts essential oils and phytoncides. Unique properties allow the use of green manure for the prevention of diseases of garden crops (late blight, scab, rhizoctonia, etc.). In addition, mustard protects the area from slugs and larvae of various beetles. Sowing a green manure crop has many advantages.
- With the onset of the first cold weather, the mown grass becomes mulched protective coating, protecting the soil from freezing.
- It is recommended to plant mustard and lupine to improve physical properties and soil structure.
- To protect the soil from leaching, it is better to sow white mustard, which can retain nitrogen.
- You can plant green manure as a companion plant for potatoes, beets, fruit trees and bushes.
- It is recommended to sow green manure on an unused plot of land to increase fertility and protect the soil from weeds.
Incorporating fertilizer into the ground
Experienced summer residents value mustard not only for beneficial features as a fertilizer, but also for convenience. Planting seeds, mowing ready-made greens and applying ready-made fertilizer should be done in the same area. In this case, there is no need to transfer or transfer raw materials, and no additional preparation is required.
Mown mustard greens are embedded in the ground by digging up the area or sprinkled with a layer of soil. It is customary to sow green manure on soils depleted by other plants. The amount of nutrients and elements is minimal, the vital activity of microorganisms is sluggish. To speed up the process of processing green fertilizer, preparations with effective microorganisms are used, which contribute to the rapid decomposition of mustard. Processing is carried out in a humid environment, the area should be watered. Optimal level humidity 65%.
To enrich the soil with nutrients, macro and microelements, you can safely sow white mustard or a mixture of green manure crops. When the greens decompose, the resulting biomass becomes an excellent, easily digestible fertilizer and attracts worms and beneficial microorganisms to the area. In addition, dense bushy greenery prevents weeds from germinating and actively revitalizes the beds.
During the struggle for good harvest not all remedies are good. For example, excessive use of pesticides is unacceptable, because it is a practically irreducible poison.
Green manure crops
Many experienced gardeners have already found a simple and natural way return nutrients to the earth, and at the same time get rid of pests.
These are so-called green manure crops - seeds of various cereals and herbs, which are grown not for harvesting, but as a universal fertilizer.
We are talking about plants that quickly germinate and grow green mass. They do not produce any products, but they improve the health of the land for several years. Plants intended for fertilization shade the soil, prevent its erosion and enhance biological activity, suppressing weeds. They are grown locally, mowed and incorporated into the soil before flowering. Once in the ground, plant remains quickly decompose.
Mustard as a green manure crop
The well-known mustard is a green manure crop. As a fertilizer it plays an important role in crop rotation. This oil-bearing plant with yellow flowers and a strong honey smell belongs to the It has a deep root system and abundant green mass up to 80 cm high.
Mustard as a fertilizer was not chosen by chance. Its root secretions contain. Interacting with the soil, they transfer some nutrients from an inaccessible state to a form easily absorbed by plants. In addition, they have a strong phytosanitary effect, preventing the spread of certain diseases of vegetable crops and reducing the number of pests.
Benefits of sowing mustard
Mustard as a fertilizer is of particular value because this plant is able to absorb from the soil some micro- and macroelements that are not available to others. When plowed, the mass becomes a source of all these elements that are useful for the development of soil microorganisms and crop nutrition.
For many summer cottages and garden plots located in bad lands or on slopes, sowing mustard is especially relevant. As a fertilizer, it plays a secondary role here. More importantly, mustard can significantly reduce or prevent the water and wind erosion that such areas are subject to, especially if it is sown after harvest, when the ground is left open to erosive processes.
Timing of sowing and mowing
This culture has matured in short term gives a lot of green mass. When to sow mustard for fertilizer? Of course, as early as possible, during the period of spring ripening of the soil. Mustard seedlings tolerate frosts and cold snaps well. Early sowings are much better able to withstand both drought and possible damage by fleas, which pose a serious danger to plants. In addition, sown in early dates mustard effectively suppresses weeds.
It should be noted that plants for green fertilizer can be sown during the summer, after harvesting early crops, but no later than the 2nd ten days of August. In this case, it is necessary to provide the seeds and young shoots with a sufficient amount of moisture. Before mass flowering begins, the plants are mowed and chopped with a shovel, and then the bed is dug up along with the green mass.
Mustard as a fertilizer is the cheapest and convenient way soil for further cultivation productive crops.
Garden crops need fertilizer, since the soil is depleted with constant use and cannot fully provide them with microelements. Each gardener decides for himself what fertilizers to use on his land. Most quick way fertilizing plants and fertilizing the soil is the application chemicals. But an owner who cares about the quality of his gardening products and thinks about the health of his family and other consumers will not buy artificial products, but will try to use natural ones. So, chicken droppings, manure, onion peels, eggshells are inexpensive, sometimes for nothing, but bring many times more benefits.
One of the harmless effective ways To improve the soil is to plant green manure, so-called green fertilizers. There are many such plants that can be listed, but now we will only talk about white mustard.
Types of mustard
Everyone knows two types of mustard: white (English) and gray (Sarepta). The latter type is often called Russian mustard, since in Russia people love spicy dishes from it and used as remedy. But it is not suitable as a fertilizer. It is very easy to distinguish between the two types of seeds. In dove-gray they have an oval shape, dove-black color and small size– a thousand pieces weigh 2–4 grams. The English seeds are round, light, yellowish, weighing a thousand pieces - 6 grams.
Description of white mustard
White mustard is used infrequently for fertilizer, and completely in vain. As a green manure, it is very good and absolutely harmless to the soil, unlike chemicals. This is an annual plant and belongs to the cruciferous family.
White mustard seeds begin to germinate already at +1+2°C, so you can start planting in early spring. It is resistant to cold and can withstand temperatures down to -6°C. The growing season of the plant is 60–70 days, and flowering occurs 30–35 days after planting. It is important not to miss this time and mow the grass before it begins to form seeds.
The plant reaches 30–75 cm in height, during the flowering period it can stretch up to 1 m, has a large green mass and deep roots reaching a length of 3 m. Due to the branched roots, mustard well loosens and breaks up the soil, and dense greenery, when buried in the soil, brings there are a lot of useful organic elements there.
Soil recharge
The yellow or white flowers are very fragrant and in large numbers create a pleasing picture to the eye. They attract many pollinating insects. The fruits are hairy pods 2–4 cm long with pea-shaped seeds several millimeters long.
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Green manure planting time
Mustard for fertilizer is planted in the garden at any time of the warm season - in spring, summer, and autumn.
If you plan to plant garden crops after green manure, then spring mustard planting should be done 25–35 days before the expected date of planting the seedlings. April is quite suitable for her, since usually this month the temperature is above zero. But mustard will withstand light frosts, so don’t wait for warm weather.
Picture 2. – Planting “green fertilizer” for the soil/Planting mustard
Mustard is sown for fertilizer on any vacant space after cultivated plants except cruciferous vegetables. If this part of the land remains free this year, then you can let the mustard bloom and mow it during flowering. Would you like to prepare your own seeds for next year, do not mow down some of the plants from spring planting and wait until the seeds are fully ripened. At spring planting Flowering occurs in June-July, and the fruits ripen in August.
Green manure is planted in the fall after harvesting in the garden. The plants may not live to see flowering, but in any case they can be left unmown in the winter. The stems bent towards the ground form an excellent mulch that protects the soil from freezing.
Planting green manure
Mustard for fertilizer is planted on fertile land cultivated with peat. Sandy loam soils are suitable, but not clayey or acidic. You can deoxidize the soil with dolomite flour. Plant the seeds 1–1.5 cm deep in the grooves. With a distance between furrows of 15 cm, the seed consumption will be 120 grams per hundred square meters. You can scatter the seeds over the surface of the dug up soil; in this case, buy twice as many of them. Keep in mind that in early spring, mustard seeds in the garden are salvation and a treat for many birds, so they need to be covered with earth and harrowed.
Methods of introducing fertilizer
When planting in spring, your task, without waiting for flowering, is to mow the green mass, chop it up and dig it into the ground at least a week before planting the seedlings, preferably two. It will begin to decompose during this time, and during the season it will turn into excellent humus.
The first shoots appear 3 days after planting, after 30 days the tender grass will reach 20–30 cm and can be mowed. After chopping the greens with a shovel or knife, this biomass is embedded in the garden soil to a depth of 6–8 cm; on light soil, up to 15 cm is permissible. You can also add food waste and weeds there.
To speed up the process of decomposition of biomass into humus, some gardeners water the beds special drugs, for example, “Shine-1” or “Baikal EM-1”, but this is not necessary. It is advisable to cover the bed with a dark film or roofing felt, after watering the soil abundantly with water. If it is not possible to cover the area (for example, if the area is very large), then do not forget to water it, since humus can form only with sufficient humidity.
For the autumn introduction of green manure, its planting is carried out after harvesting, at least a month and a half before frost, in order to have time to dig in the grown greenery or mow it and leave it on the ground as mulch.
There is another way to use mustard as green manure. After mowing, the greens are not dug in, but taken away to compost heap or spread as mulch under raspberry, currant, cherry bushes, etc. The roots remaining in the ground rot and enrich the soil.
Features of growing mustard
- Mustard is not resistant to drought, especially during the period of initial growth and budding, no matter in spring or autumn. It loves moisture very much, so it requires regular watering.
- Does not grow well in acidic and swampy soils. Application dolomite flour will solve this problem and will not hurt, even if you could not determine the acidity of the soil in the garden.
- Greens buried in the soil need moisture for better decomposition, so in the absence of rain it is necessary to water the area that urgently needs to increase fertility.
- Since mustard is from the cruciferous family, you should not plant relatives next to or after each other. Common diseases and insects can damage the crop. Cruciferous vegetables in our garden: cabbage, radish, horseradish, leftover and others.
"Green fertilizer" for the soil
The benefits of mustard
- The strong roots of mustard drain and loosen the soil, make it softer for subsequent garden crops, and facilitate the penetration of air and water into it. Its roots penetrate 2.5–3 meters deep.
- Dense mustard plantings suppress the growth of weeds.
- Mustard used as fertilizer suppresses such diseases. garden crops, like scab and late blight of potatoes.
- The phytosanitary properties have made mustard a real fighter against slugs, pea moths and wireworms.
- When the temperature drops by more than -6°C, the plant lies down on the ground, thereby covering the soil with a kind of mulch or blanket that holds the snow. This protects the ground from freezing.
- Honey mustard flowers are not only fragrant, but also attractive to bees and pollinating insects, which are never out of place in the garden.
- Mustard as a fertilizer has a large green mass and fills the soil with a huge amount of organic matter.
- White mustard is an excellent companion for beans, grapes, peas and some fruit trees. To use it as a companion, sow a small amount of seeds near these plants.
- In areas with slopes, mustard is sown as a fertilizer and as a remedy for soil erosion by wind or water.
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Mustard is annual plant, which is widely used as a green soil fertilizer, as well as a honey plant and its value lies in rapid germination seeds, in addition, the plant is able to rapidly increase green mass. The article will tell you about its properties as a fertilizer, when is the best time to plant and how to sow mustard in the fall?
Green manure
Mustard is able to replenish the soil with such useful substances as organic matter and humus. It has the unique qualities of absorbing poorly soluble elements and converting them into lighter ones. Mustard is sown to loosen and drain the soil; it perfectly increases soil moisture; its roots can reach a length of up to three meters. And this allows you to protect the earth in autumn-spring periods from wind and dry erosion.
When can you sow mustard? If this is done in the spring, it is best one month before planting vegetables. Autumn sowing carried out after harvesting, in some areas this occurs at the end of August, in others at the beginning of September. Mustard, sown after harvest, has excellent sanitary and soil-protective qualities. As for the function of fertilizer, this green manure performs it poorly, since the green mass does not have time to grow.
Qualities of mustard
Plants have a wonderful effect on soil health. The essential oils that accumulate in its stems have an excellent preventive effect against various pests, such as slugs, wireworms, as well as all kinds of fungal infections. By decomposing, the plant improves the habitat of other microorganisms beneficial to the soil. How to sow mustard in the fall? This is of interest to many gardeners, because proper sowing will ensure good feeding soil, and therefore will increase the future harvest. Mustard is sown in entire beds, the green mass is left unmown to retain snow and prevent soil freezing.
How to sow mustard correctly
If a plant is sown to obtain green fertilizer, then seeds should be taken at the rate of 100-150 grams per hectare of land. The sowing depth is two to three centimeters, and the row spacing is about twenty centimeters. They also practice sowing mustard together with legumes, through a row, this will enhance the function of green manure. Most often, mustard is sown immediately after harvesting early vegetables, so that it has time to build up green mass and saturate the soil with useful fertilizers before winter. How to sow mustard in the fall? First, level the ground with a rake, if the soil is dry, water it with water and scatter the seeds. Then cover them or dig in them lightly.
Features of the plant
Mustard - it rather prefers moist soils, especially during the period of active growth. This green manure is resistant to cold. Shoots appear at a temperature of +2 degrees; they easily tolerate frost of three to four degrees. “How to sow mustard in the fall?” you ask, because the cold weather will soon come. This plant manages to grow a huge green mass before the onset of cold weather.
Many methods of fertilizing the soil are already known, based on natural means: garlic, tobacco dust, grass, eggshell, or manure. But not everyone knows that you can fertilize simply by planting plot of land certain plants. These plants include mustard, which is well known in cooking and medicine, although gardeners very rarely use it as a fertilizer for their gardens.
White mustard is an annual oilseed plant with deep roots and large green mass, height from 30 to 80 cm. When flowering appears collected in brushes yellow flowers with a strong, honey smell, from which a fruit is then formed - a long pod with seeds. It is also called green manure - green fertilizer.
Features of growing mustard
For planting mustard under fertilizer, turf-podzolic, fertilized organic fertilizers soil, but can also be grown on sandy loam cultivated with peat. Will not grow on clayey, floating soils acidic soils and salt marshes.
This is a light-loving plant that does not tolerate drought well; it especially likes watering during the period of germination and bud formation.
Cabbage should not be used as a precursor, since they are from the same cruciferous family and have common diseases.
Why is mustard used to fertilize the soil?
- Since mustard has roots that penetrate deeply into the ground, they loosen, structure and drain it well.
- The root system itself secretes a substance that is detrimental to, so he avoids such areas.
- When the mustard green mass is incorporated into the soil, more microorganisms appear in the soil, which process and enrich it.
- Suppresses the growth of weeds as it grows quickly.
- It is capable of converting poorly soluble nutrients (phosphates), which are inaccessible to many plants, into an easily digestible form.
- Mustard roots protect the soil in spring and autumn from water and wind erosion, and in winter they prevent severe freezing.
- The content of essential oils in all parts of the plant is a good preventive measure against the accumulation of pests and fungal infections in the soil.
When and how to plant mustard to fertilize the soil?
White mustard can be sown throughout the entire gardening season: from early spring to early September, sowing any free plot of land. But the main sowing of mustard as a fertilizer can be done twice a year:
- in spring - a month before planting vegetable crop(for example: potatoes);
- in the fall - after harvesting.
It is better to sow mustard immediately after harvesting so as not to lose shadow moisture and the soil does not dry out. There are two ways to sow:
- plant seeds to a depth of 1.5 - 2 cm in rows at a distance of 15 cm (seed consumption is approximately 120-150 g per hundred square meters);
- manually scatter the seeds onto the proposed beds, and then carry out harrowing with a rake, sprinkling them with earth (consumption - 300-400 g per hundred square meters).
Shoots will appear in 3-4 days.
After about a month and a half, when the plant has grown to 15-20 cm, the mustard must be mowed (while the leaves of the plant are fresh and juicy, it is better to do this before it blooms massively). Then grind the resulting mass and incorporate it into the soil, watering it well with EM preparations (Baikal, Siyanie, Vozrozhdenie, etc.), cover with black film or roofing felt.
When planting mustard, it must be taken into account that decomposition of the remains of this plant occurs only if there is a sufficient amount of moisture in the soil, so during droughts watering will be required.
Thus, using mustard on your site as a fertilizer, you will have excellent soil by autumn: loose, healthy and enriched with all the substances necessary for plant growth.
