Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: al78 on February 26, 2017, 19:50
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Back in the autumn (September/October) I broadcast some green manure seeds in several of my veg beds. The idea was to cover the ground with a cover crop over winter to limit compaction and leaching from winter rains (my allotment is heavy clay with clay subsoil), and to provide green growth to dig in about a month prior to cultivation. I sowed caliente mustard, alfalfa, field beans, vetches and grazing rye. Only the mustard really grew properly before the winter frosts killed it. The field beans grew to about two inches high, which is where they are now. The rye didn't grow at all, and I don't know where the vetches are (probably didn't grow at all). The alfalfa germinated but didn't get much beyond a couple of cm, really such little growth it just looks like a light carpet of patchy weeds, again not enough green growth to do much when dug over. Without proper growth of the green manure, my beds are now compacted and need a good dig over with copious amounts of manure added. I don't get why there has been such little growth, despite sowing at the recommended time and watering afterwards. What have I missed here?
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Did you mix the seed or did you sow separately in different beds?
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Did you look at the sort of green manure that you were sowing and whether it was suitable for the season? (Actually it sounds as if you did). Where did you buy the seeds? I've used one supplier and not had good results.
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Did you mix the seed or did you sow separately in different beds?
The Alfalfa and mustard I planted on their own in separate beds. The vetches, field beans and rye were mixed together and broadcast. I did make sure I was sowing at the right time, as the idea was to create a winter cover crop, so I deliberately selected seed for autumn sowing that would overwinter (apart from the mustard which was sown more because it is said to be beneficial for disrupting one of the potato pests life cycle).
The supplers were greenmanure.co.uk and I think I bought one or two packets from the organic gardening catalogue. The former has good info on suitable sowing times, and what seeds do best in the various soil types (heavy clay in my case, hence field beans and rye).
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I have used alfalfa as a long term green manure (2+years)and regularly cut it back and composted it. It is slow to germinate and I think really needs to be sown May/June to establish. The field beans will probably continue to grow. I only used rye once, it is too difficult to dig in. I have used vetches, trefoil, mustard, clover, phacelia and buckwheat at various times. Fodder radish worked well lots of bulk. I did not dig them in just cut down tops and covered with cardboard and let them rot down.
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When manure broadcast sowing, I always make sure of three things
The seed is well raked in, which means preparing the bed beforehand.
The bed is covered with enviromesh for 10 days against birds snaffling half of the seed.
I keep it watered and the mesh helps keep in the moisture.
Last year it was buckwheat on 30 August and Winter Tares on 22 September. The buckwheat was very fine, but that's a quick grower. The winter tares, which is similar to the field beans , while not bad, did not perform as well as earlier plantings in previous years. I think it should have been planted 3 weeks earlier. September and October last year also had long dry periods and I remember having to water a couple of times down here to get the tares going.
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The supplers were greenmanure.co.uk and I think I bought one or two packets from the organic gardening catalogue. The former has good info on suitable sowing times, and what seeds do best in the various soil types (heavy clay in my case, hence field beans and rye).
I bought field beans from greenmanure.co.uk and they didn't do very well for me but the allotment was problem soil to say the least. If I want to use field beans again I shall try Kings Seeds where I have always had decent results from their seeds at a good price.