HOW WHAT SIDERATS AFFECT THE SOIL IN THE GARDEN

Tell us more about siderates. For which plants is it better to use phacelia, and for which - rye or mustard? What grows faster?

Valentina Kuneva, Tomsk

When growing garden and garden plants without the use of organic and mineral fertilizers on the site, the level of soil fertility decreases every year, which affects the yield and quality of products.

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In recent years, manure and other organic fertilizers have become inaccessible to most summer residents. Therefore, in order to replenish humus reserves in the soil and improve its structure, many consider it expedient to sow stubble early ripe crops after harvesting early vegetables and potatoes, which, when growing green mass, plow at the end of the season.

However, not all sown crops are able to accumulate humus and restore fertility. The plowing of the ground mass of phacelia, rye, oats, mustard, rapeseed, camelina, oil radish, rapeseed does not increase the humus content, but, on the contrary, leads to a slight decrease. This is due to the fact that the green mass is completely decomposed to minerals and there is an accumulation of available forms of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, nitrogen and other nutrients. To obtain a high yield of green mass of these plants, the soil must be fertilized with a certain amount of mineral nitrogen before sowing.

Phacelia improves soil structure. After its plowing, the soil becomes looser. The roots contain bacteria that suppress soil infection of fungal diseases such as root rot, late blight, and some viruses. Root secretions also inhibit the development of nematodes and wireworms. Sown on acidic soils, phacelia reduces their acidity. It can be used as a green manure for any vegetable crops and potatoes.

Root system mustard and other cruciferous stubble crops are pivotal and penetrate to a depth of 1 m to 2,5 m. They grow well on heavy loams and clays. With their root secretions, they dissolve hard-to-reach compounds of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and other elements in the lower layers of the soil and assimilate them. Thus, the fertile layer is enriched with available phosphorus and other elements that are easily absorbed by vegetable plants. Root secretions suppress the development and viability of soil pathogens of fungal diseases - late blight, rhizoctonia, Fusarium rot, potato scab, and repel wireworms. But these crops cannot be sown in those beds that will be occupied by all types of cabbage, daikon, radish, radish, as they are affected by the same diseases and pests as mustard, oil radish and other cruciferous green manure.

Rye and oats as green manure it is better to sow on sandy, sandy and light loamy soils. Their fibrous branched root systems penetrate to a depth of 1-2 m and quickly absorb phosphorus and potassium from insoluble compounds, release substances that free the soil from pathogens of various rots of vegetable crops, as well as nematodes. Rye and oats can be sown under any vegetable crops.

To increase humus, it is good to sow legumes - peas, common vetch, lupins, red clover, annual sweet clover, fenugreek. On the roots of these plants, deeply penetrating into the soil, there are nodule bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen, thereby enriching the soil with it. The green mass is also rich in nitrogen compounds, which allows the accumulation of humus in the soil. But after them, legume field vegetables cannot be planted the next year.

Reference by topic: Sowing green manure for the winter - what, when and after what - advice from a candidate of agricultural sciences