green manure is certainly one of the most natural and effective means to fertilize the soil in professional and private crops.
This agricultural practice aims to add organic matter using a crop planted specifically to be cut and buried in the ground.
The practice of green manure is applied not only in organic and traditional farms but also in private gardens where it can be included in the rotation program. So let’s see how it works, which essences to choose depending on the objective and the benefits it generates.
Contents [Ocultar]
-
What is green manure
-
The benefits of green manure
-
-
When to use green manures
-
What crops to use
-
How to make green manure
-
Quantity of seeds
-
When to crumble essences
-
-
green manure in the garden
-
In the garden
What is green manure
By the term green manure we mean or an agricultural practice of high ecological value, which consists in cultivating species intended to be crushed and buried when they are at their maximum exuberance, carry out the “green manure” function . All the biomass buried in the first layers of the soil is gradually decomposed and mineralized by soil microorganisms, which receive abundant nutrients and thus multiply.
Green manure is certainly a excellent supply of organic matter on the ground, especially when it is not possible to have fertilizer and when the fertilizer is not enough to refine all the available surface. Green manure is very useful for example, when we start an orchard or another type of cultivation, in a previously very exploited and depleted soil, from which we must return of fertility .
The benefits of green manure
The benefits generated by the practice of green manuring are numerous and interdependent.
-
It nourishes soil micro-organisms, our allies for a healthy crop. Through their metabolism, they make the nutrients contained in green biomass available to plants.
-
Makes the floor smoother and more manageable. The roots of the chosen species also help a lot in this regard.
-
It allows a better accumulation of water reserves in the soil.
-
It prevents the loss of many nutrients as they are retained.
-
It keeps the soil always covered and protects it from bad weather and erosion.
-
In short, green manure makes the land more fertile in a general and virtuous sense.
When to use green manures
The land dedicated to green manure remains occupied for a period that varies between two and six months, depending on the amount of seeding carried out and the species chosen.
Green manure can be sown at the beginning of autumn, end of winter or early spring . The most common species mixes are those sown in early fall, usually late October. They are born and begin to grow before winter, then stop and resume growth with the first tepores of spring. The floor should never be left bare and exposed to the elements, so it is kept covered with green manures, avoiding the negative phenomenon of erosion, especially on the hills, as well as the loss of nutrients.
What crops to use
The most common plant species for planting green manures are as follows.
legumes , which supply nitrogen by root symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Within this family, the most used species are clovers. , some more adapted to cold climates and others to hot and dry climates; for example, hybrid clover does well in cool, humid northern and mountainous climates, as does crimson clover, which also tolerates acidic soils. The berseem clover, on the other hand, is less resistant to cold and is suitable for milder areas. Other green manure legumes are peas in the two varieties sativa and villosa, the second of which is more resistant to cold, the broad bean sainfoin sainfoin and the protein pea .
Brassicas or crucifers : have a biocidal action against many pathogens as well as some suffocating effect from weeds. For the practice of green manures, the white mustard and the grated are excellent, with a primary root that till the ground at a certain depth. Mustard lends itself best to spring planting which can only be done in the fall in fairly mild climates or in a mixture. Rapeseed is suitable for cool but not dry climates, so it is best planted in the fall.
grasses What absorb nitrogen and prevent it from seeping deep into the ground (the ” stolen “). Among the green manure pastures, some are the classic cereal species such as barley, rye and oats that in this case the ears of wheat do not ripen because they are chopped and buried when they are still green . Rye in particular is a plant that grows to a large size and is resistant to winter cold. Then there is the ryegrass also grown as fodder and very productive, and also the Timothy the dactylis and the fescue , species typical of meadows and pastures. Grasses absorb the nitrogen contained in the soil, retain it and then restore it once their biomass is buried. Bare soil loses nitrogen through runoff from winter rainfall, sinking into deep layers of soil inaccessible to roots.
other species like him buckwheat , which is sown in late spring and has a rapid cycle, covers the ground well and has a certain allelopathic effect towards harmful species, inhibiting their germination. Also facelia , a relative of borage, is suitable for spring sowing of green manures because it is sensitive to cold. So as not to sacrifice to the grave all its beautiful purple flowers, which also attract ap i, it is also useful to sow it “just” for beauty in a corner of the garden, not just for green manure.
All species have their own qualities and perform important functions, they have different types of roots with which they uniquely explore the soil and absorb nutrients in different amounts. For this reason it is recommended to choose a mix of species and thus get the biodiversity green manure.
Organic seeds of many green manure species can be purchased here.
How to make green manure
Before sowing green manure, the land should be worked in the same way as for sowing normal conventional crop species, i.e. the seedbed should be carefully prepared. .
Quantity of seeds
For large areas, we are talking about very variable quantities of seeds, ranging from 50 to 200 kg/ha approximately because depending on the composition of the mixture, the weight of the seeds also changes. For a few square meters of orchard there are also small parcels of mixtures or even individual species, which we can mix independently.