For any plant, the soil is its home. Therefore, each blade of grass does a tremendous job of improving its home. Plants loosen the soil with their roots, and after the death of their roots, microbes and worms fill the soil with nitrogen. With their leaves, they protect the earth from blowing and blurring, and also shade from the sun, preventing them from cracking. It turns out that it is the plants that create the soil.
What are siderates? These are plants (a mixture of plants) that are sown in order to fill the soil with nutrition and organic matter. After growing crops, the earth becomes scarcer, it loses most of the nutrients. And siderates are used to give her
nutrients back
. This is the most economical, simple and environmentally friendly way to fertilize the soil. This is especially important for those places where the same crops are grown every year and there is simply no way to apply crop rotation.
Siderata are plants that can quickly form a green mass. They have a beneficial effect on the soil, structure it. If the soil is loose, they will strengthen it, make it cohesive. A clay, heavy soil, on the contrary, loosened, increase the access of moisture and air to it. In addition, they will increase the activity of microflora, and lower acidity. The soil is enriched with organic matter, especially valuable growth stimulants, enzymes and nutrients. Siderata is especially effective in small humus sandy and sandy areas, but their use on clay soils gives a noticeable result.
Common siderates are alfalfa, sweet clover, peas, clover, lupine, vetch, rank and other leguminous plants. Often, grain crops act as siderates . Of these, oats are considered the most preferable, since it is the richest in silicon, potassium and phosphorus. You can also plant mustard and canola. After mustard, the soil is especially good for onions, radishes, garlic and radishes.
For those who keep their own apiary, honey siderates are considered the best - this is sunflower, buckwheat and phacelia. They guarantee a forage base for bees, on which the harvest in the vegetable garden and in the garden largely depends. And the most lazy farmers need to plant perennial lupine.
This fertilizer is grown in two doses. Siderata are sown directly into the ground in spring or autumn with fresh plowing. They are planted before planting the main crop and after harvesting. In the gardens, they are sown in row spacing. A continuous method is used there: one crop of green manure is sown and the next one is sown immediately. In the garden a week before the main crop needs to be planted, green manure is chopped with a shovel or mowed and buried right there.
If the weather is dry, then the buried fertilizer will have to be watered so that the decomposition process goes faster.
Phacelia is a siderat, in which the green mass grows in a short time. Only 40 days will pass from the moment of planting, and beautiful blue flowers will appear , collected in inflorescences with 70 small flowers. The phacelia root will penetrate 20 cm deep in a short time, thereby it will significantly improve air exchange and loosen the soil. This plant is sown at any convenient time, since it can withstand even frost on the surface of the soil. In addition, after phacelia, the number of nematodes, other pests, and pathogenic bacteria is significantly reduced. It also attracts beneficial insects and is a honey plant, which is especially important for gardeners. In a word, phacelia is an excellent siderat. It will not only enrich the soil with organic matter, it will greatly improve the situation on the beds, but it will also bring aesthetic pleasure.