2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16
Green manure plants are a special group of flora representatives from different families, but with the same properties. With proper cultivation, they are able to restore soil fertility, enriching it with valuable elements, fertilizing and loosening.
Such magical plants include Chinese, oil-bearing or Shrovetide radish - a native of the cruciferous family, steadily gaining popularity among domestic gardeners. This publication is dedicated to this plant.
Meet: green manure radish
Honey and fodder crop, often used as a natural fertilizer, it grows equally successfully on a variety of soils, favorably differing from fellow green manure crops by minimal requirements and a rapid increase in green mass. Everyone knows its closest relatives: radish, common radish, etc. Oil radish is similar to them, but does not form a root crop,and above-ground parts gives significantly more.
Decomposing in the soil, the biomass of the plant turns into an easily digestible fertilizer, enriching it with nutritious humus. Despite the fact that the oil radish is inferior to bean green manure in terms of nitrogen content, its unpretentiousness, adaptive abilities and ability to suppress a number of pathogens of various diseases, including nematodes, have been noticed and appreciated by gardeners. In addition, taking nutrients from the deep layers, it transfers them to the upper ones, preventing leaching and increasing the fertility of the site.
Such efficiency is achieved through a powerful root system. The culture successfully tolerates late crops, takes root and grows well, which is indispensable in conditions of risky farming zones.
Features of the species
Shineweed radish - green manure, an annual herbaceous plant, reaching two meters in height, has strong branched shoots covered with bright green foliage. Due to the rapid growth, already after a month and a half, the root and green mass of the crop is 7-10 kg / sq.m. It should be noted that in terms of quality characteristics, the biomass of a crop surpasses even such a recognized fertilizer as manure.
Shrovetide radish is unpretentious, cold- and drought-resistant, moisture-loving and shade-tolerant, has an enviable constancy of yields and is capable of producing full-fledged seeds in the most climatically difficult regions.
Due to the high intensity of growth, radish cropsclose, inhibiting the growth of weeds and quickly suppressing their resistance.
Soil protection and phytosanitary properties of the crop
The plant is known for its loosening, structuring, draining qualities. The use of oil radish increases the air and moisture capacity of soils and serves as their protection against interseasonal wind erosion. Therefore, often Shrovetide radish is not mowed for the winter. It retains snow, reducing the degree of freezing of the soil and contributing to the accumulation of moisture.
In addition, the culture successfully heals the soil. The concentration of essential oils in all parts of the plant prevents the reproduction of soil pests (for example, wireworm) and the development of fungal diseases (potato scab, rhizoctoniosis), suppresses various types of nematodes, with the exception of beetroot. The decomposition of plant biomass improves the quality of life of beneficial soil microorganisms, which leads to a decrease in the incidence of vegetable and horticultural crops and, accordingly, an increase in yields.
Growing
As green manure, gardeners use radish most often, planting early vegetables and spring crops, as well as winter crops after harvesting, cutting green mass for winter. But they are often sown in the spring, subsequently removing winter crops for sowing. The excellent adaptability of the plant gives ample opportunities for its productive use.
Planting a pancake radish is a simple operation, but it will require some preparation. The culture, for all its unpretentiousness, does not tolerate acidic soils well, therefore they are first deoxidized by limingor adding dolomite flour. Growing radish on soddy-podzolic soils will give a good effect with additional fertilizer with a mineral complex.
Soil preparation
Sowing green manure does not require deep digging of the site, surface treatment with a cultivator or Fokin flat cutter is sufficient, which will preserve the fertility of the surface soil layer and the strength of the vegetable grower. To obtain a rich harvest, the garden bed is fertilized with any of the preparations developed on the basis of effective microorganisms ("Siyanie-1", "Baikal EM-1"), as well as organic fertilizers with a humus component.
When to sow Shrovetide radish
Short ripening period (50 days) makes it possible to sow and harvest the plant 2-3 times per season. In temperate latitudes, oilseed radish is sown from mid-April to early September. Sowing is considered optimal after digging. Seeding depth - 2-3 cm, seed consumption - 3 grams per 1 sq.m.
For convenience, the seeds are mixed with coarse sand, scatter them over the prepared area and harrow or roll the soil. It should be borne in mind that subsequent crops will give less germination, so seed consumption is increased.
After a month and a half, without waiting for flowering or at its beginning, they dig up the soil, crushing the shoots with a shovel. Overgrown or too thick stems are best carried to the compost pit. If desired, sowing the Pancake week radish is repeated.
Cleaning
Cut green manure no later than the start of seed formation. Under winter it is done forthree weeks before sowing, with he alth cultivation - two weeks before the soil freezes. The culture does not tolerate severe frosts, it dies. After that, it is easily removed by cutting with a Fokin flat cutter or a cultivator. Preliminary watering with a solution of peat-humic or EM preparations accelerates the fermentation processes and creates favorable microbiological conditions that contribute to the enrichment and improvement of the soil. When using green manure, it must be remembered that fermentation processes are possible only with good hydration.
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