Cultivation of the soil: what it is and what it is for, 2 types and possible errors

Agrotechnical activities carried out in spring and autumn, as well as during the season, allow you to prepare the soil for a new season or for the wintering process, take care of plants during cultivation. Consider the purpose of soil cultivation, why it is carried out, what types of cultivation exist. Cultivation rules and possible mistakes that can be made. Which cultivator to choose for cultivation.

What is soil cultivation

This is the name of shallow loosening, in which the wrapping of the soil layer is not involved, and the earth is leveled with cutting of the roots or stems of weeds. Depth during normal cultivation does not exceed 12 cm.

The specifics of cultivation also depend on the purpose of cultivation. Spring processing before sowing is carried out to a depth to which the seeds will subsequently be planted. On lightly structured heavy soils, the depth should be increased. For cultivation of any type, special machines are used - cultivators.

What is it for

Cultivation is carried out to prepare the soil before sowing, the surface is smoothed, the soil layer becomes soft and airy. This retains moisture and nutrients. Under such conditions, the seeds germinate faster, the seedlings take root more easily, the root system becomes stronger and stronger.

Cultivated land warms up faster, that is, becomes suitable for sowing or planting faster.

Cultivate the soil to kill weeds in a resting area, not sown or not planted, or for loosening and cleaning between rows or trunk circles from weeds.The agrotechnical technique allows the hilling of crops that need it. Cultivation is also used for incorporating fertilizers and herbicides into the soil.

Types of cultivation

Let's consider continuous cultivation and row-spacing, the differences between these methods from each other.

Interrow

In this case, the cultivator passes between the rows of already grown or planted crops, regardless of their variety. It can be vegetables, root crops, potatoes, corn. The number of passes is regulated by the growth of plants and weeds, soil density. Cultivation can be dispensed with as long as row spacings are kept clean and the ground free of weeds.

Spring or autumn cultivation can be combined with the application of fertilizers or pesticides to the soil. When caring for potatoes during cultivation, one more important agrotechnical operation can be carried out - hilling.

Solid

This is the treatment of fallow during the season or plots before sowing seeds on them. In spring, continuous cultivation is carried out to loosen the soil layer compacted during the winter. Air penetrates into it and a normal level of moisture is provided. The purpose of fallow cultivation is to prevent overgrowth of the area with weeds, so the cultivation may be shallow.

Cultivator selection

These agricultural machines can be with fixed blades that move under draft force, or with driven, rotating blades. There are manual cultivators, motor cultivators and tractor-mounted cultivators.

Hand-held machines are small and compact, with sufficient application of force they can process the area of \u200b\u200bthe garden or cottage, therefore they are especially popular with summer residents. Even greenhouses or plots with dense rows can be processed with manual models.

Motorcultivators can have different power, from 3 to 10 hp. with., they differ in size, weight, functionality. They can cultivate vegetable gardens and small farm plots. For the cultivation of large areas, mechanisms are used that are hung on a tractor.

Rules

You need to cultivate the previously prepared land. It is necessary to remove all the remains of plants that may interfere with the passage of the car. Before starting work, for example, a motor cultivator, it is necessary to prepare and install the cutters on the unit with the cutting parts in the direction of travel, and adjust the level of penetration. It is necessary to choose the right speed mode so that the tillage is of high quality.

From the practical experience of those using a walk-behind tractor, it follows that the optimal operating speed corresponds to the second gear. At this speed, it is possible to ensure uniform and optimal deepening, high-quality tillage.If you need to break up large earthen clods left over from digging, or plant seeds in the soil, it is recommended to additionally use a harrow.

The soil layer should be evenly loosened, without large clods of earth, not caked, and retain moisture well. During pre-sowing treatment, it is necessary to ensure that the deviation from the norm does not exceed 1 cm in depth. Such characteristics favor the germination of seeds and the strengthening of the roots of seedlings.

When cultivating in order to get rid of weeds, care should be taken to ensure that most of them are cut before overgrowing, with the predominance of perennial rhizomatous weeds in the area, cultivation should be carried out at a greater depth in order to cut a significant part of the pests. If weeds, annuals or perennials, have outgrown, cultivation will be ineffective, it will be possible to destroy only small, recently sprouted plants, some of the rooted ones will remain.

Possible errors

If a motor cultivator is used, then only those devices that come with it in the kit should be placed on it, do not strengthen it with home-made devices. Because of this, the unit will easily fail, its motor may overheat or the cutters may break.

To process a small area, you do not need to buy a powerful machine that will not justify the money invested in it. It is also impossible to save and purchase a unit whose capacity will not be enough to process the site.

It is not recommended to work on soil that is too wet or too dry and dense. Tilling such soil is not only time consuming and labor intensive, it is risky in that the cultivator can break down.

Cultivation has long been recognized as an essential technique for preparing the soil for sowing. It makes it loose, finely lumpy, retaining moisture and air.Under such conditions, the seeds germinate and take root more amicably, young plants do not die due to unsuitable conditions. Cultivation of row-spacing on a growing crop relieves it of weeds, in part - of soil pests and rodents that live in or on the soil. It is possible to carry out such processing during the season as many times as necessary, there are restrictions only on the height and width of cultivated plants, which at certain stages of development will already interfere with the passage of the unit along the aisles.

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