Lupine as green manure: growing, when to sow
Lupine as a green manure is grown to enrich the soil with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Its roots go deep into the ground, not pulling nutrients from the upper layers and loosening the lower ones.
Why is growing lupine useful?
As a green fertilizer, it is better to grow white, narrow-leaved or yellow species of annual lupine.
Lupine as a siderat saturates the soil with useful elements for 3-4 years
Lupine benefits:
- The roots of this plant go deep into the ground up to 2 m. Thanks to this, mineral fertilizers rise from the depths of the soil to its upper layers.
- The plant loosens the soil and supplies it with oxygen, which improves the growth and development of crops that will grow after lupine.
- It grows quickly, requiring no maintenance. Within a month and a half after sowing, it can be mowed and embedded in the soil.
- Lupine heals the earth and suppresses the development of harmful flora. Where lupine grows, wireworm and some bacteria harmful to cultivated plants will not live.
- It blooms beautifully, enlivening the garden.
Growing lupine is an inexpensive and effective way to increase soil fertility and improve the quality of the crop over the next 3-4 years.
Lupine as a green fertilizer should be sown in the second half of May or immediately after harvest, but no later than mid-July.
Before planting green manure, the soil must be well loosened. Its seeds should be deepened into the ground by 3-4 cm, they should be sown in rows at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other, and the intervals between the rows should be at least 20-30 cm.
Green manure maintenance involves removing weeds and shallow soil loosening.
In one place, lupines need to be grown no more than once every 4 years.
Two months after sowing, when the plant has faded and green pods appear on it, it must be mowed and planted in the ground at a shallow depth. If the weather is dry, the soil should be watered and left to rot.
If you are late with harvesting, the stems will become tough and will not decompose well. In this case, after mowing, the plants must be removed to a compost pit. And when they rot, use them as fertilizer. After it, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, strawberries grow well on the ground, but not legumes.
Using lupine as a green fertilizer is the most sustainable way to increase crop yields and improve soil quality. It does not cause an addictive effect in plants and has a beneficial effect on beneficial organisms living in the earth.