Phacelia as green manure - pros and cons, another benefit of phacelia
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PHACELIA FOR SUCCESSFUL FARMING
I want to sow phacelia before winter at their summer cottage. Is it possible? What is the general benefit of this green manure culture?
Leonid Vitalievich LEVANTSEVICH
The phacelia plant has long been known to both farmers and beekeepers and flower growers. It is popular not only as a fodder, green manure and honey crop, but also as the most unpretentious ornamental plant with delicate flowers ranging from lilac to blue.
ADVANTAGES OF PHACELIA AS SIDERATE
The advantage of phacelia as green manure is that it grows rapidly, increasing its green mass up to 300 kg per hundred square meters in just a month and a half. After regrowth, the plants are mowed with grinding, dried for 2-3 days, and only then they are embedded in the soil. In orchards and berry fields where phacelia is grown between rows, after mowing it can be left as a mulch on the soil surface.
Mowed greenery of phacelia has a positive effect on the structure of the soil: it loosens the earth, saturates it with useful microelements and organic matter, increasing fertility. In the process of decomposition, the leaves release nitrogen, which is necessary for the full development of future plantings. Mulch during the growing season prevents the drying and compaction of the soil, and in winter - its deep freezing, the development of wind and water erosion.
A well-developed root system of phacelia (the main underground mass of the plant develops in the arable horizon) loosens and aerates the soil. A system of root tubules is created, and when dying, the underground part of the plant becomes a nutrient substrate for earthworms and soil microorganisms that accumulate nitrogen.
Note
To significantly improve the structure of the soil during the growing season, phacelia can be sown three times, sowing the next batch simultaneously with the incorporation of dried green mass into the soil. In the ground, phacelia quickly decomposes, enriching it with nitrogen and potassium compounds.
Reference by topic: 10 ways to use phacelia - its advantages
DISEASES AND PESTS ARE BYPASSED
Phacelia is not susceptible to viral, bacterial and fungal diseases. Moreover, it prevents the development of these ailments in neighboring cultures. The aboveground mass of the plant contains many phytoncides that repel locusts, aphids, leafworms, pea weevil, codling moth and other pests from cultivated plants. The incorporation of green manure containing phytoncides into the soil additionally disinfects it, inhibits the development of spores of pathogenic fungi, and has a detrimental effect on nematodes, wireworms and May beetle larvae. In addition, special root secretions of phacelia - colins - suppress the vital activity of weeds.
Note
A useful property of phacelia is that it changes the reaction of the soil environment, "deacidifying" it. As a result, weeds such as sorrel (horse, curly, small), horsetail, wood lice recede. Thus, phacelia not only protects the soil from pests and diseases, but also cleanses it of weeds. Therefore, it is an excellent precursor of any culture.
PHACELIA NECTAR SOURCE
For beekeepers, phacelia is of great interest as a honey plant. Bees spend a lot of time in the fields with this plant: they start collecting early in the morning and stop by the end of daylight hours. Flowers secrete nectar rich in sugars, it is fragrant, and bees take it with pleasure. Insects visit crops especially well from 10 am to 5 pm.
Productivity depends on many factors - sowing time, cultivation techniques and soil fertility. Under normal conditions, phacelia flowers produce less nectar, but this figure never falls below 100 kg / ha. If the season develops favorably, from such an area you can get up to 300 kg of a sweet substance. The optimum air temperature for maximum nectar production is 24-28 degrees.
For a larger honey collection, beekeepers sow phacelia from the beginning of spring to July every 15-20 days: flowering continues continuously for 2-3 months, and the bees have time to collect the maximum amount of nectar and pollen.
For beekeeping purposes, it is advisable to sow phacelia with a row spacing of 40-60 cm. With such a wide-row sowing method, the plants are more open to bees visiting than in thickened row plantings. In addition, this allows beekeepers to reduce the cost of purchasing seeds, since their consumption with the wide-row method is two times less. With such crops, it is necessary to periodically loosen the aisles until the plants in the rows are completely closed.
There are many varieties of this plant, but most often phacelia tansy is mainly used as a honey plant and universal green manure.
See also: Phacelia as siderat
CONDITIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHACELIA
Phacelia is quite unpretentious: the plant tolerates drought and frosts down to minus 5 degrees, but it is undesirable to sow it on waterlogged soils. Weed-free, fertile, light loamy soils are best suited for it. Good yields are obtained after tilled crops: potatoes, table and fodder root crops, under which organic fertilizers were applied.
Phacelia seeds begin to germinate at a temperature of 3-4 degrees Celsius, and friendly seedlings appear at 8-10 degrees. In wet weather, this happens approximately on the 8th day, and if it is dry, then only after two weeks.
SOWING PHACELIA ON SIDERATS
There are no strictly established dates for sowing phacelia. For this culture, both winter and early spring sowing is possible. Justify themselves crops throughout the spring and summer. If a single sowing is planned, the period from May to June is considered the best time.
With the winter sowing period, phacelia blooms in early June, and if this is done in early spring, flowering is delayed by 20-25 days. This process is the longest during the summer sowing period: in this case, the plants continue to bloom even in early October.
As a green manure, phacelia is sown in an ordinary way. The seeding rate on well-fertilized soils with wide-row crops is 6-8 g per 10 square meters. m, with continuous - 10-12 g. On poorer lands with continuous and summer sowing, the seed sowing rate increases to 14-16 g, and with late - up to 16-18 g. For convenience, it is recommended to sow phacelia seeds mixed with sand. The depth of seed placement varies depending on the mechanical composition of the soil from 1 to 5 cm.
Note
Winter crops of phacelia, if not mowed, can protect the land from freezing and exposure to strong winds.
Reference by topic: Green manure table - how do they affect the soil and what to plant after green manure?
PHACELIA - FERTILIZER, BEAUTY AND BENEFITS - VIDEO REVIEWS
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