What green manure is better to sow for potatoes in the fall?
Siderata for potatoes are used to keep the fertile area from depletion. Not all gardeners have the opportunity every 3-4 years to set aside a new "rested" field for culture. Large farms also resort to this technique, as a result of which the sown area is used with maximum efficiency.
Plant properties - green manure
Sideration in agricultural technology is the most important component. Plants enrich the soil with nitrogen and other trace elements, saturate with oxygen. Most often these are annuals with powerful roots and a dense aerial part. They can be cultural and semi-cultural. All species develop rapidly and grow green mass, many of them are natural phytoncides.
Any of the siderates are suitable for potatoes, except for nightshade, as they have the same diseases and pests with them... Ways to use green manure:
- Full (plowing of green mass to a depth of 10 cm).
- Mowing (grass grown in another field is laid in potato furrows).
- Otavnoe (only the lower root part is used, greens are removed from the field).
Planting oil-bearing radish, rape, white mustard, rape will save the soil from fungi and dangerous bacterial diseases of potatoes. Legumes serve as a source of nitrogen and potassium, and cereals will improve the structure of the soil. Cruciferous green manures are irreplaceable helpers in pest control.
Natural fertilizer has valuable qualities:
- Creates favorable conditions for the development of beneficial microorganisms in the soil.
- Attracts pollinating insects.
- Prevents soil erosion.
In terms of efficiency, it can be compared with the introduction of manure, not so affordable organic fertilizer. Plants saturate the soil with nitrogen and phosphorus necessary for potatoes. The same effect is with humus, which takes longer to decompose.
Many farms combine or alternate these supplements. As a result, the products are environmentally friendly. Siderata for potatoes are planted in autumn after harvest or in early spring.
Sowing spring siderates
Phacelia, white mustard, rapeseed, oats are sown in early spring. The soil should warm up to a depth of 3-5 cm. A mixture of green manure gives a good result. Throughout the season, potato bushes will be fed from decaying plant debris.
Spring sowing can be done in two ways:
- Before planting potatoes... For mustard and phacelia, the earliest planting is possible, immediately after the snow melts, since these plants are not afraid of frost. They dig up the field before the potatoes, plow the green manure.
- Simultaneously with potatoes in the aisles. A “carpet” of herbs will protect the soil and young shoots from drying out.When the siderates and potatoes are equal in height, the beds are spud, pruning the stems of the green fertilizer.
Trimming can be done in several steps:
- Leave 5 cm of the aboveground part, and the cut top is laid out in the aisles.
- As soon as the shoots grow back, the procedure is repeated.
- Continue until the very harvesting potatoes.
Some gardeners practice joint spring planting. On the sides of the potato holes, you can plant stunted beans. In this case, the bean or bean will be not only a green manure, but also a compacting crop, from which a full-fledged birth is collected at the end of the season. In the furrow there should be 3 times less legumes than potatoes.
Legume nodule bacteria will enrich the soil with the elements necessary for potatoes, and this, in turn, will protect the bean bushes from low temperatures. For the Colorado potato beetle, this type of planting is "confusing", and there are practically no larvae on the leaves. On the early potatoes legumes are sown after the root crop sprouts have hatched.
At one time, a calendula can grow on a potato field, a flower is planted between the bushes. The smell of this plant will scare off the Colorado potato beetle.
Autumn siderates
It is more rational to plant siderates for potatoes in the fall. The harvested early potatoes provide space for green fertilization. Thus, green manures after potatoes in August protect the plot from filling with weeds. According to many reviews, the best siderates for potatoes are:
- alfalfa;
- bean, peas;
- sweet clover.
Seeds are scattered over the soil surface, focusing on the consumption rates indicated in the packages. Lightly sprinkle or roll with a roller. If the weather is dry, then the seedlings must be watered.
Sowing begins immediately, without waiting for the arrival of cold nights. Before frost, green manure for potatoes in the fall should grow, otherwise there will be little effect. During the winter, the stems are melted under a layer of snow, and in the spring, plant residues are plowed into the soil.
If the shoots outgrow, become too bulky and coarse, then the grass is mowed. Part is laid on the field, the excess is transferred to another place. Here are the best siderates to sow in the fall for potatoes: lupine, spring vetch, mustard, any legumes.
Already in August, you can plant winter green manure - rye. The plant is considered a kind of "soil orderly". One of its advantages is the ability to convert phosphorus into a form that is most easily absorbed by potatoes. Rye stalks are plowed in the spring when they reach a height of no more than 25 cm... After 14 days, the field is already well prepared for potatoes.
Disadvantages and errors in sideration
A too thick layer of the planted green mass will not decompose in the soil, but will acidify. Therefore, the height of the plants is controlled, plowing is carried out in a timely manner, not allowing the crops to overgrow, and the seeds to ripen and wake up.
Sunflower is not sown as a green manure for potatoes. This plant depletes the top fertile soil layer, massive sunflower stalks slowly rot. Rye as green manure and wheat attract click beetles (wireworms), so these crops are used exclusively in the fall after harvesting potatoes.
The disadvantages of using green manure include:
- A clear positive effect does not appear immediately, but can stretch over several seasons.
- Financial expenses for the purchase of seeds and agricultural activities.
- For each type of soil and crop, it is necessary to select certain types.
- Some of them should not be planted in poor, unfertilized soils.
Siderata necessarily alternate, observing the rules of crop rotation. Otherwise, you will end up with a second monoculture that will drain the soil's nutrient resources.
The expected effect depends on the density of crops. A sparse planting will be useless, and too thick will "clog" the main crops. They strictly adhere to the terms of planting and harvesting, do not allow the coarsening of the green mass.
Correct selection
Which green manure is best for potatoes depends on the type of soil of the site:
- Compacted soil plots without nutrients are planted with: alfalfa, vetch, rapeseed, mustard, vetch-oat and mustard-legume mixtures.
- On any soils that need disinfection: calendula, marigolds, oats, phacelia, early ripening ryegrass.
- On soils with nematode larvae, wireworm: vetch-oat mixtures, rapeseed, nasturtium, oil radish.
- On dry soils, drought-resistant potato siderates: rapeseed, rape, phacelia.
- Cruciferous plants will improve the structure of erosive soils.
- In areas with close occurrence of the primer: lupine and seradella.
- On poor organic matter: crucifers, legumes and cereals.
The most common potato green manure is lupine. After 1.5 months, the tops of the plant can be embedded in the soil. The roots penetrating deeply saturate the top layer with important elements for the development of potatoes.
Rye grains are sown after harvesting potatoes in the fall. Grain is suitable for any type of soil, well prevents soil erosion by melt water.
Experienced gardeners sow cold-resistant mustard several times per season. Before the flowers appear, the greens have time to mow several times. Mustard is a source of potassium and a wireworm remedy.
Oats will protect the potato field from weeds. Crops are sown both in spring and autumn. Especially effective are mixtures with vetch or peas with the addition of a small amount of ammonium nitrate. Beans help get rid of weeds. The record holder for the protection of the potato field from creeping wheatgrass is the oil radish.
Early ripening peas are very popular among green manure fertilizers. Pea stalks dissolve very quickly in the soil, and the roots actively saturate the soil with nitrogen.
The use of green manure can compete with modern compound fertilizers. With proper management of the process, the result compensates for all financial and labor costs.
