Oil radish as green manure: when and how to sow

To get a good harvest, the soil requires constant fertilizing and fertilizing. Experienced gardeners prefer natural ingredients. The use of oilseed radish as green manure provides many benefits. Green fertilizers energize the soil and increase yields without any negative impact on garden crops.

The main beneficial properties of the plant

The long root system of the butter radish lifts up nutrients from the lower layers of the soil. The plant is successfully used in many industries: cosmetology, pharmacology, cooking, biofuel production. The description of the culture makes it clear the difference between common radish and oilseed.The latter does not produce root crops. Its value lies in the abundant growth of greenery in cold weather.

Essential oils contained in the plant repel various insects and pests. Improve habitat for worms and suppress nematodes. In addition, oil radish fights weeds, including wheatgrass, which is considered the strongest weed.

Oil radish satisfies all the requirements that gardeners place on green manure crops. Its advantage lies in the large volume of vegetative mass, resistance to cold, thickening and low-quality soil.

Like green manure

Pancake radish is being planted for the winter. It retains snow, as a result of which the soil freezes less, and moisture accumulates in it. The use of culture protects the soil from erosion.This is the most effective remedy in the autumn and spring. As a fertilizer, radish saturates the soil with potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus. It loosens the soil and improves its structure even in the deepest layers.

As a green manure, radish is used for almost all crops. The exception is the cruciferous family (radish, cabbage, radish and others).

Like a honey plant

Not everyone knows that Shrovetide radish is recognized as a honey crop. It secretes nectar at cool temperatures, and its flowering period lasts up to 1 month. Honey is collected in early spring and after flowering of other honey crops (mid-summer). The honey of this culture is valued for its medicinal properties and strong aroma. Despite this, it is not recommended to leave rare honey in combs for the winter. This is due to its rapid crystallization.

As a fodder crop

The value of oilseed radish lies in the fact that it ripens quickly and gives a high yield. The period of formation is an average of 45 days. The greens of the culture are used for cooking grass flour, silage, haylage. It also goes into livestock feed. At the 3-4 leaf stage, radish is effectively used as an additive to corn.

In terms of the amount of nutrients, the culture is equal to alfalfa, clover, compound feed. It is cultivated for grazing animals in late autumn. The culture withstands frosts down to -4 degrees.

Technology of cultivation as green manure

Due to the high yield, radish grows up to 3 times in 1 season. This is one of the best rates for soil protection in autumn and spring. The essential oils contained in the culture destroy harmful microorganisms: fungi, nematodes, bacteria.

Seed preparation

Culture seeds germinate well in clayey, sandy and drained soils. Slightly acidic soil is also suitable for growing. Oil radish is characterized by good germination and unpretentious care, so the seeds do not need pre-treatment.

When to plant?

Seeds are sown from April to mid-September, it all depends on the tasks. The highest yield is observed from the April planting.

Pay attention! The later the seeds are planted, the more seeds are needed. If sowing is done after mid-August, their number increases by 2 times. This is due to the fact that autumn plant growth slows down.

If the radish is used as green manure, it is left until the first frost appears.

Soil preparation

Before planting green manure, it is not necessary to dig up the soil. Most gardeners use Fokin's flat cutter or ordinary glanders. You can loosen the soil both before planting seeds and after it.

How to sow?

It is optimal to plant seeds 2-3 cm deep. For 10 sq. m takes about 40 g of seeds. As already mentioned, later sowing requires doubling them.

Before planting, it is better to mix the seeds with sand. About 200 g of substrate is taken per 50 g of seeds. After thorough mixing, the mixture is sown in the ground. The highest yield of oilseed radish is observed at the first sowing.

Plant care

The first shoots are observed after 4-5 days.Full maturity occurs within 40-50 days. The culture is dug up after an average of 40 days, it all depends on the intensity of growth of the foliar part. But this must be done strictly before the flowering of the crop, otherwise the plant will be re-sown.

Cleaning

If the upper part of the plants reaches a great height, summer residents initially mow the greens, after which they dig up the soil. You can also chop the stems with a bayoneted shovel. If the greenery is low, then just digging is enough.

If the oil radish has overgrown, then the only correct solution is to place the uprooted plants in the compost pit. As part of the compost, thick stems will decompose faster in the soil.

Soil radish manure can be done in several ways:

• compost;
• digging the stem part;
• mulching.

The overgrown tops are cut off at the root, after which they are used as a fresh fertilizer. It can be used to mulch the soil, that is, leave it on the surface of the soil, or dig it up, having previously scattered it over the garden plot.

Digging green manure rhizomes is not recommended. This part of the plants should overwinter in the soil. In this way, the structure of the soil will improve significantly.

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