Green manure for the garden in the fall after potatoes: which is better, which ones to plant

Siderats in the fall after potatoes are used to sowing many vegetable growers. The fact is that for a good harvest, the culture needs a sufficiently large amount of nutrients. As you know, potatoes quickly deplete the soil, and not everyone has the opportunity to change the place for planting every year. Then green manure plants come to the rescue, capable of replenishing the necessary elements in the soil.

In total, there are about 400 types of green manure, but not all of them are suitable for planting under potatoes.

What are siderates and why are they needed

Siderat is a type of plant organism capable of extracting the necessary elements for the cultivation of vegetables from the lower layer of the earth. The aerial parts of such crops contain many useful substances that, after decay, enter the soil. Gardeners consider green manure to be a natural fertilizer, thanks to which the soil is saturated with useful components, and also does not overgrow with weeds during the rest from sowing. Such plants lead to the activation of soil microorganisms, reduce the acidity of the earth, enrich it with organic matter, saturate it with potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus. The root system of certain types of green manure increases the air and water permeability of the soil and loosens it.

Advantages and disadvantages

The effectiveness of the use of green manure lies in many ways. If they are sown annually, then there will be more benefits than fertilizing the soil with peat or organic matter.

Sowing green manure ensures a successful harvest in almost all cases

Advantages:

• weed protection;
• soil enrichment with potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen;
• maintaining the required level of soil moisture;
• improvement of the work of bacteria;
• saturation of the soil with phytoncides that repel harmful insects.

Disadvantages:

• many green manure are perennials, it is difficult to get rid of them;
• with a large amount of incorporation into the soil, plants can turn sour and worsen its composition.

When to sow green manure for potatoes

It is better to sow green manure after harvesting potatoes with the arrival of autumn, since timely planted seeds will make it possible to increase the fertility of the land next season and plant a vegetable crop on the site. September is considered to be the most favorable time for work, so that at least one and a half months remain before the onset of the expected frost.

The point of sowing green manure in the fall is that before winter they will have time to grow and get stronger enough, and they will also be able to successfully and practically without loss endure low temperatures. With the advent of spring, as the snow begins to melt, the plants will wake up, and with the onset of the right time after they are embedded in the ground, they will begin to accumulate nutrients.

Some vegetable growers begin to sow green manure under potatoes in the spring. With such work, you should have time to lay them in the ground no later than the beginning of May, preferably in the first half of April. So the sprouts have time to sprout and retain the maximum number of nutrients. They usually begin to sow after the earth warms up to + 10-12 ° C, the seeds are deepened by 3-4 cm during work. A couple of weeks before planting potatoes, the grown shoots are mowed and the beds are dug up with them.

When sown in spring, the sprouts do not have enough time to gain growth, so in this case it is better to choose legumes or cruciferous crops, in extreme cases, oats for vitamin support.

If the soil is very poor, then siderats for potatoes can be sown even in summer: in June, July and August. Vetch, radish or mustard are placed between the rows of culture, respectively.

Siderates have a strong influence on the formation and growth of potato tubers.

Which green manure is better to sow in the fall after potatoes

To choose the best green manure after potatoes in the fall, you should start from the type of soil on the site. Agricultural technicians advise sowing representatives of legumes on marshy or clay soil (refrain from planting lupine), planting sainfoin on stony and heavy soils, and choosing cereals for poor areas. The latter are planted only after harvesting potatoes, as they attract wireworms.

It is better to sow several types of green manure under potatoes, which will immediately meet different conditions: reduce the risks of developing pathogenic microflora, repel insects, enrich the soil with minerals and organic matter.

Usually, to saturate the soil with phosphorus and nitrogen, mustard and legumes are sown under the tuber, and chickpeas, lentils, oats, sweet clover, and rapeseed are used as green top dressing.

Cereals

Cereals are the most extensive group of green manure. They are highly resistant to cold and bring many benefits to the soil. The most effective are such varieties of crops as rye, barley and oats. The first helps to form and accumulate organic substances in the earth, in particular nitrogen, the second makes it more structured and moist, the third serves as a source of organic compounds, and is also an excellent means of protection against scab, rot, fungi and nematodes.

If the soil in the area is dry, then it is best to sow barley as green manure under potatoes. For heavy soil, oats are more suitable. And to increase the effect, mix it well with peas or vetch.

These crops are planted in late summer, and planted in the ground at the end of spring, when the height of the plants reaches 25 cm.

Cereal crops provide a lot of nutritious green mass, bringing benefits the same as manure

Bean green manure for potatoes in autumn

Representatives of legumes are excellent green manure for potatoes. The best dressings for tuber crops are considered to be:

1. Sweet clover. Siderat is sown in the fall after potatoes from the wireworm.
   
   

   Sweet clover enriches the earth with nutrients and improves its condition

2. Mouse peas (Vika). It performs the function of protection, and also restores the structure of the earth and helps it not to collapse.
   
   

   Bean green manure is most often sown in the fields

Rape

Rapeseed as a green manure for potatoes is also used on large plantations, but sometimes it can also be found in private farms. This plant brings a complex effect, saturates the earth with organic matter, improves its structure, helps in the fight against diseases, and protects against insects.

Rapeseed is a frost-resistant plant and is well suited for sowing before winter. Effectively fertilizes plantations. It is often referred to as green manure.

Rape makes the soil as fertile as possible

Mustard

A very good green manure for potatoes is ordinary mustard. When the moment of its flowering comes, one square meter of the plot is enriched with 2 g of phosphorus, 10 g of nitrogen and 14 g of potassium. The yield in this case increases up to 70%, and without the use of additional dressings.

In addition to common advantages with other green fertilizers, mustard has a number of advantages of its own:

• gives protection to plantings from scab, phytophthora and rot;
• saturates the soil with organic materials that turn into humus over a certain time;
• cleans the beds from weeds;
• deeply loosens the soil;
• contributes to the accelerated penetration of air and water into the ground.

Also, the advantage of the culture is that in some regions it can be sown almost until the end of September, it gives seedlings even at a temperature of +1 ° C. The plant does not need care.

Due to the content of essential oil in the mustard, it helps to scare away the wireworm and the Colorado potato beetle from the site.

Oil radish

Oil radish gives twice as much greenery as mustard, but has less pronounced phytoproperties. It is also planted due to the fact that it is a precocious green manure that blooms a month after sowing.

The plant suppresses the development of potato root rot and nematode infection, reduces the appearance of weeds by almost half. In addition, oil radish loosens the soil with its powerful root system, improves its structure, and cleanses it of toxins.

Sowing it is similar to planting mustard; during work, they adhere to a consumption rate of 0,3 kg per 1 weave of land, and plant it in the ground at the flowering stage.

Seedlings of oil radish appear on the fourth day after sowing

Other cultures

In addition to the above plants, it is useful to sow winter green manure crops such as buckwheat, phacelia, and lupine for potatoes. Oats are also suitable as green manure. Some gardeners prefer to sow soybeans or peas before planting potatoes. There is an opinion that corn is beneficial, which should be planted not under the tuber, but next to it. Thus, its tall stems will become additional protection for the beds from wind and sun.

How to sow green manure in autumn after potatoes

Planting green manure after potatoes in autumn or spring is carried out in compliance with all the necessary rules of agricultural technology. The land under the plants should be loose and warm. Seeds should be sown in furrows or evenly scattered over the beds, and then buried with a rake. For one hundred square meters, 2 kg of seedlings are usually spent, but a certain sowing density must be observed for each crop. Plantings are watered carefully, preventing them from washing out to the surface of the earth.

The seeding process is as follows:

1. The plantation is dug up, loosened well.
2. They make furrows of 4-5 cm in the garden.
3. Carry out sowing.
4. Cover the surface of the earth with rotted manure.
5. If necessary, carry out watering.

With the advent of spring, green manure is removed and potatoes are planted in their place.

Some vegetable growers prefer to sow green manure twice a year to be more productive.

When and how to bury green manure

Siderates are mowed a month before the time for planting potatoes, until they begin to bloom actively. Otherwise, the plants will grow more slowly in the ground.

They are used in several ways:

1. Fully. When all green manure is buried in the ground. At the same time, they are buried to a depth of about 10 cm.
2. Otavno. Only the roots of plants are plowed into the ground, and other beds are fertilized with green mass.
3. Slowly. When green manure grown in another area is used.

The time suitable for incorporating plants is also determined depending on the purpose for which they were sown and on the type of crop.

How exactly to perform the procedure, each gardener decides for himself. Recently, there has been an opinion that it is not worth burying green manure, because in this way they can “close” the path to external moisture. In addition, deep digging will destroy the fertile structure they have created. Therefore, some summer residents began to remove plants with flat cutters and plant them in the upper layer of the earth without turning the layer. So, the green parts remaining on the surface also serve as organic mulch.

Conclusion

Green manure is an excellent natural fertilizer that can be sown in front of almost any vegetable crop. A competent approach to their use gives farmers the opportunity to get high yields, while spending less money and effort on various kinds of feeding. If you sow green manure instead of using chemicals, in a couple of seasons you can almost completely restore the beneficial properties of the soil and make it more fertile.