What green manure is better to sow in spring under tomatoes
In the process of green manure, several hundred annuals and perennials can be used as organic fertilizers. When choosing green manure for tomatoes, take into account the compatibility of plants, characteristics of the soil composition, climatic features. The most commonly used in our climate are lupine, vetch, mustard, phacelia, barley, oats, rapeseed..
They are planted as predecessors at the very beginning of spring or late autumn, as a winter crop. In some cases, the main crop is planted directly in green manure and grown together, using the ability of fragrant herbs to create a protective zone against pests, fungal and viral diseases.
Why do you need sideration
Siderata perform several functions at once, affecting the composition of the soil layer, protecting plantations from pests, attracting beneficial insects to the site during the flowering period. When choosing green manure for tomatoes, plants of the family of cereals, legumes, cruciferous plants are used, excluding the nightshade crops related to tomatoes.
The grown green shoots are dug up. Growing plowing of green fertilizers is comparable in efficiency to the use of manure. In some cases, green flooring is mown, using it as mulch or for composting.
Using the features of various groups of plants, they naturally improve the physicochemical properties of the soil:
- embedding green mass in the soil increases the organic content, significantly accelerates the process of humus formation;
- increased activity of microbes contributes to the creation of useful microflora, which gives the plant the opportunity to receive nutrients in an accessible form;
- the short growing period and strong root system of some green manure plants contribute to effective weed control. They shade the topsoil and inhibit the germination of weeds;
- green manure roots loosen the soil, improve its aeration, moisture capacity;
- some plants are able to reduce soil acidity, resist fungal infections, pests.
Depending on the characteristics and degree of soil depletion, plants are selected for green manure. These crops are not demanding to grow, but when watered, they gain green mass faster.
Which plants to choose
In central Russia, tomatoes are mainly grown in greenhouses or hotbeds. Cold-resistant plants that can withstand freezing temperatures are chosen as green manure. Green manures are planted in the spring under a film, as soon as the topsoil begins to thaw in order to have time to cut the greens and prepare the greenhouse for planting seedlings. In the fall, after completing the work on harvesting in the greenhouse soil, they sow winter crops that can successfully overwinter, and with the onset of the first heat, quickly grow greens.
Lupine, mustard, a number of legumes, and cereals are most suitable for a greenhouse:
- lupine loosens the earth well, lifting up useful substances, including nitrogen, from deep soil layers. Scares away pests living in the soil;
- white mustard is the most common green manure, which enriches the soil, fights well against a number of pests, fungal and viral diseases. The plant restricts the growth of weeds, prevents the erosion of the soil layer;
- oil radish has a powerful root system, perfectly loosens the earth, raises a whole range of useful substances upward. The plant protects vegetables from diseases;
- Vetch, with its abundant green mass, is an excellent supplier of organic fertilizer. The root system, in symbiosis with bacteria, accumulates nitrogen in the upper layers of the soil, in a form accessible to plants. Planted with tomatoes, it can increase their yield by 40%;
- Phacelia is an excellent honey plant that attracts bees and bumblebees. Effective as organic matter. It is able to influence the acidity of the soil and reduce the number of weeds;
- alfalfa also lowers the acidic soil environment, improves its structure. Builds up nitrogen and nutrients in a form suitable for tomatoes.
Most often, legumes are used for green manure, on the roots of which bacteria settle, capable of enriching the earth with nitrogen. They have good germination, cold-resistant, excellent effect on soil aeration. Peas, beans, clover, lupine, vetch - and many other plants belong to this large family.
It is better to choose cereal siderates from frost-resistant, winter crops, which are planted after harvesting tomatoes in a greenhouse. These are well-known oats, barley, fescue, chumiza. They winter successfully, giving a maximum of nutrients to the soil during the winter season.
Cruciferous green manures are very unpretentious. The substances secreted by their root system prevent the spread of a number of diseases, including late blight, and repel pests. The most popular crops in our country are mustard, oil radish, rape, rapeseed.
Planting siderates
The planting rules are very simple. The main thing is to choose the most suitable crops that can heal and improve the structure of the soil, for the autumn or early spring. So the earth will not just rest, but restore strength for the next season. The cost of seeds of this category of plants is low and allows sowing green manures not only in small areas of greenhouses. Sideration allows you to prepare large areas of open ground.
- Tomato siderata should not belong to the Solanaceae family to which the main crop belongs. Plants should be rotated in season and annual repetitions should be avoided if possible. If in the spring cereals were planted under the tomatoes, then cruciferous plants are sown in the greenhouse in the fall. It can be mustard or canola.
- Plants are sown in moist soil densely, combining seeds with sand. After sowing, the site is sprinkled with a thin layer of peat or garden soil. When planting in a greenhouse or greenhouse, the ridges are completely sown in the fall. In the spring, the planting pattern is changed, leaving a strip that will be planted with tomatoes.
- When the green manure reaches the technical height, they are mowed and left on the soil surface as mulch. You can also dig up the green carpet. The main thing is not to let the plants throw away the seeds and cut the greens no later than the flowering period.
- Siderata, like any organic fertilizer, have a successful effect for a fairly long period of time. The question of which green manure to pick up is directly related to the chain of previous cultures.With this method of affecting the soil, it is better to plant green fertilizers taking into account the general crop rotation of the site.
- For a greenhouse where one or two base crops are grown, this rule is also true. Not all plants can be successfully sown as predecessors for tomatoes and cucumbers. When choosing green manure, make a planting schedule for 2-3 years in advance.
Siderata is a good, natural fertilizer that can be used without fear of making a mistake in the dosage. The complex influence of plants in the process of green manure on the structure and quality of the soil allows more efficient use of the land, changing its yield for a long time.
According to experts, a triple harvest of legumes is equivalent to a portion of manure necessary to restore soil fertility. So, simple planting peas, lupine or clover, will help the land with minimal financial costs. True, this method requires additional labor costs, so everyone has the right to choose an easier way. Given the peculiarities of growing tomatoes in small greenhouses, it is much easier to plant green manures, thereby extending the life of the soil.
