Which green manures are suitable for potatoes, all the pros and cons

When growing potatoes for the needs of one family, gardeners are forced to plant them in the same area for years. This happens not because not all amateurs know about the need to alternate crops, but because there is simply no other plot of land. To avoid soil depletion, as when planting potatoes after potatoes, and when alternating crops, you can plant special crops on the plot - green manure for potatoes.

Content:

• What are green manures and what are they for?
• Green manure for potatoes
• Features of growing green manure for potatoes

What are green manures and what are they for?

When regularly growing the same plants in the garden, you need to regularly take care of maintaining the fertility of the land. You can keep the land suitable for growing decent crops if:

• regularly apply organic fertilizers and mineral mixtures
• observe crop rotation
• sow crops - green manure

Green manures are plants, most often cultivated or semi-cultivated, that are grown not for harvest, but to improve the soil. Green manure is usually grown for:

• improving the mechanical structure of the soil
• enriching it with organic matter and minerals
• increasing the activity of beneficial microorganisms
• preventing erosion of agricultural land
• increasing the tolerance of subsequent crops to various diseases
• repelling insect pests
• attracting beneficial insects
• changes in acid-base balance indicators

About four hundred different plants can be used as green manure. All of them can be divided into three main groups. This:

• plants from the Brassica (Cruciferous) family, such as rapeseed, rapeseed, blue and white mustard
• crops from the Cereal family, primarily oats and barley, as well as ryegrass, paiza, wheatgrass, timothy grass
• representatives of the legume family, especially peas, lupines, soybeans, lentils
• Crops from other families, such as amaranth, buckwheat, and mallow, can also be sown as green manure.

However, green manure can harm garden crops. This most often happens when plants from the same family as the crop grown after them are used as green manure. In addition, among some gardeners there is an opinion that the benefits of green manure are exaggerated, and the purchase of seed material leads to material costs.

Green manure for potatoes

To achieve good potato yields, you need to organize the process so that before and after the potatoes, useful plants grow on the site. After all, sometimes this vegetable is planted in one place for decades. Due to the small area, gardeners do not always have the opportunity to grow potatoes in one area once every three to four years.

Green manure for potatoes it is also necessary to select taking into account the fact that this crop is from the Solanaceae family and many of them need, first of all, available nitrogen. In addition, in order for a sufficient number of tubers to form, the soil must be loose, water- and breathable.

Green manures that can repel potato pests and prevent the development of pathogenic microorganisms will also be important.Based on these requirements, we can conclude that it is optimal to use not one, but two or even three crops that will perform the listed tasks.

In order for potatoes to receive available nitrogen, peas or beans can be used as green manure crops. To improve the health of the soil and rid it of such pests as wireworms, any crop from the cruciferous family, such as mustard or rapeseed, is suitable.

To prevent the potato field from being empty in the fall or early spring, you can sow rye or oats. Thus, you can sow and grow green manure before planting potatoes, after harvesting, and even simultaneously with it. Let’s try to figure out how we can make sure that green manure brings maximum benefit.

Features of growing green manure for potatoes

The foundation of the potato harvest must be laid in the fall, immediately after harvesting. It is most convenient at this time sow rye. This is due to the fact that this crop produces powerful shoots, kills all weeds, and rids the soil of wireworms. In addition, sowing rye in the spring helps remove snow from the area, which helps to quickly warm up the soil. Rye is sown in furrows in the fall and covered with soil.

In the spring, the above-ground parts of the rye are cut off, either with a simple hoe or a flat cutter. You can also use the mechanized method and mow the crops with a trimmer. Greater efficiency is achieved if rye and rye seeds are mixed.

After mowing the ground part, you need to trim the roots and leave them in the ground. This work can also be done with a flat cutter. It is important to carry out all activities 10 - 14 days before planting potatoes. Sowing rye breaks the vicious circle of planting potatoes after potatoes.It turns out that rye, sown in the fall as green manure, serves as the best predecessor for potatoes.

If it was not possible to sow green manure in the fall, then in the spring, as soon as the ground thaws by 3 - 5 cm, you can sow any variety of mustard. This is due to the fact that the plant germinates quickly even at low temperatures, and the seedlings can easily withstand cold temperatures down to -5. Benefits mustard in that it enriches the soil with available phosphorus, repels wireworms and increases the resistance of potatoes:

• to fusarium rot
• to tuber scab
• to late blight

To obtain a positive effect, it is enough to sow 200.0 - 250.0 g of mustard per hundred square meters. The seeding depth is about 2 cm. Three to four days after sowing, mustard sprouts. After 21 - 25 days, you can cut it off with a flat cutter or cultivator and start planting potatoes. If you grow mustard and plant it in the soil in the fall, this will disrupt the wintering conditions of the wireworm and significantly reduce its number on the site.

Many vegetable growers sow legumes at the same time as potatoes; such joint cultivation also improves the soil and eliminates the need to apply mineral fertilizers. If you still have doubts about the benefits of green manure for potatoes, then carry out a test sowing of crops and compare the result with growing potatoes without green manure.

Video about green manure for potatoes and their benefits: