When growing any plant, fertilizers must be used. They come in organic and chemical origin. In turn, organic are divided into fertilizers of plant and animal origin. Organic are obtained by composting weeds and parts of plants in specially prepared compost pits. But there is another method that is undeservedly little used in agriculture. These are the so-called green fertilizers.
History of Siderate Use
But green fertilizers have been used for more than one millennium. This method has come to us from China through the Mediterranean. We know little about what our ancestors fertilized their fields with. In the 20th century, the world was swept over by a fascination with mineral fertilizers. And that is understandable. I collected granules or powder from a bag, scattered it on the field, and wait for the harvest. But gradually, people began to realize that these fertilizers, along with pesticides and herbicides, worsen the quality of the soil and kill everything living in it. But various microorganisms, worms, and larvae not only lived there. They improved the structure of the soil, its quality and nutritional value. In addition, chemicals cause plants to get used to them. Therefore, increasingly, crop producers began to use green fertilizers.
Siderat action
Through long-term observations, scientists have selected plants that bring as much benefit to the soil as possible. They were called siderates. Plants are sown after harvest, and then planted in the soil. The stems, leaves of these plants contain a lot of nitrogen. The roots of green manure accumulate nitrogen even after plowing into the soil. Microorganisms turn parts of plants into humus. Minerals are carried out by roots to higher layers and become accessible to subsequently sown plants. The soil becomes loose and structured. Improves aeration and water regime of the soil.
As a result, we have the following situation: green manure does not produce, but improves crop yields, which will be located on the site for the next five to six years.
Siderates can be used with humus and compost mixed with minerals. After all, they give to the earth exactly as many useful mineral elements as they were taken from this land before. But chemicals when using siderates need much less. In addition, they are in a form convenient for absorption by plants.
Siderates have time to grow quite high by the moment of smelling. Sometimes the amount of mass obtained is significantly higher than that required for use as green fertilizers. The excess part is placed in a compost pit for further processing. Do not bury it in the ground, since microorganisms do not have time to process it and it begins to sour there. And excess nitrogen can damage planted plants.
Types of siderates:
- Nitrogen accumulators are leguminous plants that accumulate nitrogen from the air and deliver it to the ground.
- Nitrogen-saving - cereals, fertilizing the soil with organic matter when decomposed. They prevent nitrogen from being washed.
Legumes as siderat
Legumes belong to nitrogen accumulators. They have several advantages:
- They grow rapidly and gain mass even on poor soils. A developed root system allows them to extract useful substances deep from the earth, accumulate them and give them to the upper layers after processing. These crops accumulate from 30 to 35 kg of nitrogen per 100 square meters of area.
- They decompose quickly.
- They grow in different climatic zones.
- You can easily get good quality seeds from them.
- They have early ripening varieties used for sowing between different crops.
What is the mechanism of nitrogen accumulation? Nodule bacteria settle on the roots of plants. They live in symbiosis with legumes, which use 90 percent of the accumulated nitrogen. The remaining 10% are content with bacteria. We can say that they infect plants. But both sides benefit from this. Even three, since all the nitrogen goes into the soil and is used by the main crop.
In order to successfully accumulate nitrogen, bacteria need access to air. Therefore, he better copes with his task on loose soils.
Nodule bacteria
Some of them can live in symbiosis with different plants: peas, lentils, beans, vetch. Beans "cooperate" with a separate type of bacteria.
The use of green manure
It is necessary to take into account the fact that in some plants there are growth inhibitors. So that they do not affect the main culture, they wait until they decompose under the influence of microorganisms.
Siderata are sown in autumn on a harvested field, and with the onset of frost, they are sown in the soil. Depth depends on the quality of the soil. If it is light, then it is from 12 to 15 cm, for heavy ones, the depth must be reduced: from 6 to 8 cm. If you bury the siderates deeper, they will not decompose.
Siderat plants
There are many plants with similar properties. Among them, the most popular are:
- Lupine.
- Vika (winter and spring).
- China.
We will consider in detail the first of them.
Lupine
This is a great fodder plant. Its yield is 40 tons of green mass per hectare and 2 tons of beans. Under favorable conditions, it can be 80 tons. The green mass contains about 40% of vegetable protein. The lupine has a solar energy utilization ratio of 4.79, while wiki has 1.98.
Lupine flowers are very beautiful and unpretentious. They are grown in gardens and flower beds. They bloom in early May and bloom all summer.
Lupine is one of the best siderates. For sandy soils - the main one. For this purpose, use all parts of the plant. It enriches the earth not only with organic substances and nitrogen, but also with phosphorus. Lupine as a siderat is the best predecessor for wild strawberries. If you mow it and keep it in a compost pit, we get fertilizer that exceeds manure in terms of the amount of nutrients.
Types of Lupine
There are about two hundred of them in the wild. But in agriculture, three annual species and one perennial are used.
Blue narrow-leaved. It is the most frost-resistant. The main alkaloid varieties: Benyakonsky 484, Pink 399, Narrow-leaved 109. Non-alkaloid varieties: Bryansk 35, Nemchinovsky 846, Timir 1, Reserve 886.
Lupine blue is a green manure that grows on sandy loam lands of various acidity very quickly and has a deep root system (up to 2 meters). Animals do not eat it due to its bitter taste and high alkaloid content.
White lupine is a siderate that tolerates drought. He loves warmth. It is best sown on fertile carbonate soils of any acidity (chernozem, serozem). The most productive. It can be used to feed livestock. The main varieties: Horizon, Kiev mutant.
For medium loamy and sandy soils, non-acidic sandy loam, yellow lupine is used. Its flowers have a strong pleasant smell. Yellow lupine is a green manure whose cattle forage makes it possible to obtain high milk yield and weight gain of young animals. He loves to grow on moist soil. Yellow, like blue, does not grow well on dense, unknown soils.
Perennial (multi-leafed) lupine contains alkaloid lupinin in the leaves and stems. It accumulates a large amount of nitrogen. Loves moisture and light, does not freeze in winter. Perennial lupine as green manure gives about 60 kg of green mass per acre of land. Use it in the form of:
- The cut.
- Deposits.
- Seeding under cover.
It is also used with a plow for the main culture.
Annual lupine as a siderate is used in spring and summer. It introduces about 20 g of nitrogen per square meter into the soil. In addition, lupine contributes phosphorus, potassium.
Lupine as a green manure is not sown in one place repeatedly. Do not use it after legumes. After all, they have the same diseases and pests as the lupine grown on siderates.
Landing and care
Any suitable soil for growing green manure except peat and heavy loam. It grows poorly in wetlands.
Lupine as green manure in the spring or immediately after harvesting is sown in areas where weeds do not grow. Planting is carried out according to the scheme: between rows - 15-30 cm, in a row - 5-15 cm. Sowing depth - 2-4 cm. If you deepen the seeds more, it will be difficult for the cotyledons to come to the surface. Other siderates (oats) can be sown with lupine.
Leaving consists in destruction of weeds and weeding of the soil.
Close up lupine in the soil as siderat eight weeks after sowing. By this time, buds are forming in the plants. They have not yet acquired their characteristic coloring. Some sources believe that it is most beneficial to smell lupine in the green pod stage with the resulting beans.
If you are late, then the stems become thick and decompose slowly. In this case, the plants are mowed and composted.
Sown in July, the lupins close up in the fall. In areas with a warm climate - in the spring.
Lupine can reproduce on its own. If you do not control this process, then it can displace the main culture. Only lupine siderat will remain to grow there.
Growing this crop makes the barren areas fertile. The acid-base balance of the soil is balanced and becomes neutral. The soil is structured for the activity of microorganisms.