Phacelia green manure: what kind of plant and grass properties, when to sow, grow and care

The green manure group includes many types of plants that belong to different families. Accordingly, their characteristics are also different. One of the most interesting green manure is phacelia. Consider the description of this plant, its species and varieties. A list of advantages and disadvantages, before planting, time and planting technology. How to follow the rules of care, how to meet the mowing deadlines.

What is phacelia

Phacelia is a biological genus, it includes 186 species of plants that belong to the Aquatic family. This plant can be both 1-year-old and perennial, depending on the species.Perennial or annual can grow to 0.5-1 m, looks like a herbaceous bush with branched, juicy and fragile shoots. The leaves are dense, bright, green, pubescent on the underside.

Phacelia flowers are small, the petals are painted in shades of lilac, pink, blue, light purple. Collected in spike-shaped inflorescences, which can be 2-4 dozen on 1 plant. Due to the many flowers, phacelia bloom lasts 1.5 months. During it, the grass attracts bees, because of this, some species are grown as honey plants, for example, Ryazan or tansy phacelia. Fruits of plants in the form of a box, small, 700 pcs. weigh 1 g.

As green manure, phacelia is useful for the earth in that it can be a natural green fertilizer, improves soil structure, and increases the volume of humus. It can grow on any soil, although it prefers light and fertile, it feels good not only in sunny areas, but also in partial shade.

Types and varieties

As green manure, you can grow several types of phacelia. Consider the description and features of the varieties.

Phacelia argentea

The species comes from California, where it grows on the sand. When grown in the garden, the stems stretch up to 0.5 m. The leaves of plants of the species are covered with white pubescence, which gives them a silvery appearance. Flowers with white petals.

Phacelia bolandera (Phacelia bolanderi)

The species also comes from California. The shoots are flexible, the plants bend down to the ground. The inflorescences are cone-shaped, consist of bell-shaped flowers, they are lavender in color.

Phacelia hastata

View from North America, grows in coniferous forests. Plants grow up to half a meter. The shoots are flexible, the inflorescences are not long, with white or pinkish flowers. On the leaves of this species, you can see light veins and pubescence.

Phacelia sericea

Plant height - up to half a meter, stem 1 or more, with pubescence of a silvery shade. The flowers are light purple, bluish or lavender, thanks to this color, the plants resemble lupins.

Phacelia campanularia

The plant is low, 25 cm high. Shoots are straight, but fragile, with a light red tint. The leaves are green with a bluish tinge, with a thin border of brown-red. Campanula phacelia has racemose inflorescences, flowers are bell-shaped, bright blue.

Phacelia congesta

The species is named so because its inflorescences are, as it were, twisted. The flowers are small, 0.5 cm in diameter, blue. The height of the stems is 0.5 m, the leaves are green, with dense pubescence.

Phacelia purshii

Plant height - 0.5 m, leaves pubescent. Flowers are 3 cm in diameter, the lower part of the petals is greenish, the upper is lilac.

Pros and cons of a plant

Cultural Virtues:

• universality, can be a precursor for all crops and any crops can be planted after it;
• fills the soil with easily digestible organic matter;
• stops weed growth;
• short growing season allows phacelia to be sown at any time from spring to autumn and up to 4 times per growing season;
• gaining green mass in 1.5 months (up to 3 centners per hundred);
• cold resistant, can withstand frost, spring cold.

This plant has many useful properties, there are no disadvantages, except for the high cost of seeds.

Before which crops are used

Phacelia can be the forerunner of any kind of agricultural plant. Since it belongs to a family that does not include other green manure and cultivated species, it cannot be a distributor of infections and pests. Therefore, it is permissible to sow and grow it before any garden or horticultural crop.

When to sow green manure?

The time for sowing will be different, it depends on the purpose of growing phacelia. In the spring, you can start sowing after the snow mass has melted. Shoots should appear no later than in 2 weeks, then the plants will begin to rapidly increase their mass. For outdoor crops, after cutting, the greens can be laid out on the beds as mulch or buried in the soil.

Due to its ability to attract bees, phacelia is recommended to be sown all summer in the aisles of beds with crops whose pollination needs to be increased, or in tree trunks.

In autumn, this green manure is sown after harvest, at this time it can be sown from the end of summer to the 2nd half of autumn. Autumn phacelia heals the soil and restores, nourishes and improves the composition and structure. If you leave the stems on the surface of the beds, they will become mulch, save the soil and the roots of perennial crops from freezing. The soil is strengthened, erosive processes are weakened, nutrients are not washed down after rains or snow melt.

You can sow green manure before winter before frost, so that it does not have time to germinate. The seeds will overwinter in the ground and germinate in the spring. For winter sowing, the amount of seed must be increased in order to cover the possible loss of some of the seeds that can freeze in the cold.

Sowing technology

Phacelia seeds germinate well, so they do not need stratification or soaking. It is not difficult to plant seeds: after harvesting plant debris and digging the beds, the earth must be loosened and leveled with a rake.Make grooves 5 cm, for ease of planting, mix the seeds with coarse sand. The use of sand allows you to evenly distribute the seeds over the area of the beds. Approximately 200 g of seeds should be spent on a hundred square meters. Cover the grooves with soil. If the ground is dry, it is necessary to water it.

Features of care

Phacelia is an unpretentious plant in general. It does not need top dressing if it was sown in fertilized land; it grows worse on poor soils. A single application of fertilizer when preparing the beds is enough for it to develop well.

You need to water the green manure, but if the soil is dry. In spring and autumn, when it rains, there is enough moisture that comes to the plants along with them. Winter phacelia does not have to be watered at all. If the season is rainy, green manure can not be watered in the summer. It is necessary to ensure that the earth remains moist, does not dry out and is not too waterlogged.

Siderat blooms 1.5 months after it sprouts. Active growth stops by this time, the green mass no longer grows so fast. The first flowers open gradually, within 1.5-2 weeks, after which a period of mass flowering begins, which lasts at least 45 days. If green manure is supposed to be used as a honey plant, then it can be sown 4 times per season, a week after mowing.

Phacelia is considered resistant to pests and various diseases, and itself can protect nearby crops from them. You can even plant seeds between beds with vegetables, herbs, root crops, strawberries.

Terms for mowing crops

Cut green manure at the stage of bud formation. At this time, it builds up a sufficient mass, but the stems still remain flexible and not rough. If you mow later, when the plants are in bloom, they will become rougher.After incorporation into the soil, the rotting process will be slower, it will take more time for the residues to completely decompose.

You can mow green manure manually, but this is only convenient if the area is small. On an area of several acres, it is more profitable to use a cultivator or walk-behind tractor. The unit will allow you to immediately cut off green manure and plow into the soil. It won't take long to process the beds.

In order for the fertilizer for the garden to turn out as quickly as possible and be of better quality, the mass should be sprayed with an EM preparation. The tool helps to accelerate the fermentation of greens, the grass rots faster, pathogenic microflora does not multiply in it. The minimum period after mowing before planting a subsequent crop in this place is 2 weeks. But, on average, it should take at least a month for the grass to decompose to a homogeneous mass.

Why doesn't it rise?

Properly sown phacelia seeds under the required conditions of humidity and temperature sprout in a week. If dry, the germination process may take up to 2 weeks. Therefore, if the weather is dry after sowing, the site should be watered to moderate moisture.

Seeds may not germinate if they are old, that is, they are more than 2 years old. After 2 years of storage, germination decreases. The ability to germinate is badly affected by non-compliance with storage conditions: if you keep the seeds in plastic bags without perforation, they may begin to rot inside. Especially if they were not dried enough before laying. The smell can also indicate suitability for sowing: if there is a smell of charm, then you do not need to sow such seeds.

Low germination is also observed if the seeds are not sufficiently covered with earth in the grooves. Seeds not only dry out quickly, but are also exposed to direct sunlight.

Phacelia is known to gardeners as a universal green manure that can be sown on all types of plots after or before any crop. Plants grow quickly, do not require heat and light, can sprout on any soil and not always fertile.Phacelia is used, like other green manure crops, for organic fertilization of beds and for structuring the soil. And also as a prophylactic plant, which allows you to reduce the likelihood of diseases and the number of pests, as an excellent honey plant. You can plant seeds in areas located near apiaries or gardens, calculate the sowing so that the green manure sprouts by the time the trees bloom.

There are several types of phacelia used as green manure in summer cottages and private plots, there are plenty to choose from. The culture is convenient in that it can be sown in spring, up to 4 times in summer and autumn, before winter. It overwinters well under the snow, rises together in the spring, almost does not freeze. Thus, you can sow vacant plots at any time, without waiting for a certain period.

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