Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: littlelisa on June 27, 2008, 17:53

Title: green manure?
Post by: littlelisa on June 27, 2008, 17:53

i'm planning to order some green manure to put into my plot over winter. I have 5 rods and the soil is pretty clay-heavy. Any recommendations for which  of the green manure crops would work well for this?

Title: green manure?
Post by: gobs on June 27, 2008, 19:58

Hungarian grazing rye. 8)

Title: green manure?
Post by: cawdor2001 on June 27, 2008, 20:05

i used Hungarian grazing rye last year, certainly winter hardy, make sure you sow it thickly enough

Cawdor

Title: green manure?
Post by: Bombers on June 27, 2008, 20:38

Quote from: "cawdor2001"

i used Hungarian grazing rye last year, certainly winter hardy, make sure you sow it thickly enough

Cawdor

For those of us without  rotavator's, can you just hoe this back in just before planting out?

Title: Re: green manure?
Post by: Lardman on June 27, 2008, 22:32

Quote from: "littlelisa"

i'm planning to order some green manure to put into my plot over winter.

Im musing over the same question but for REALLY sandy slightly acidic soil.

Thoughts ?

Title: green manure?
Post by: littlelisa on June 28, 2008, 08:01

Moles seeds stock "forage rye" - is this the same as grazing rye? If not, where do you buy it? For  a half-plot (5 rods) I'm estimating i'll need 2kg - does that sound right?

Title: green manure?
Post by: gobs on June 28, 2008, 09:11

It should be the same or very similar, no idea how much you need.

On sand, you might consider some nitrogen fixing legume, any will do that suits your season, including your ordinary beans, or maybe alfalfa, which is very deep rooted but fussy about ph.

Title: green manure?
Post by: woodburner on June 28, 2008, 09:47

Extract from a 'leaflet' I downloaded a few days ago:

Quote

Grazing rye is one of the best green manures for overwintering. It also produces large quantities of roots, so improves soil structure. As it breaks down, it can produce chemicals which prevent seeds from germinating, so you should sow a transplanted crop after grazing rye, or leave a gap of one month between digging in the green manure and sowing seed.

Also, not one for no dig gardening, as, unlike many other green manures, it HAS to be dug in to stop it growing. (Or glyphosated  :shock: :lol: )
You can get rye here (http://www.cotswoldseeds.com/winterGM.htm), also gives details of kg per acre.

For no-dig, I think I would try buckwheat, cutting it down in late autumn and leaving it in situ as a mulch.
Extract from the same leaflet:

Quote

Buckwheat grows extremely fast, choking out weeds and producing large amounts of foliage. Its deep roots open out heavy soil and pump up nutrients from deep in the soil. Its flowers also attract bees and hoverflies.

Buckwheathere (http://www.suffolkherbs.com/kolist/1/GREEN+MANURES) or your local healthfood shop ;)

Lardman, can't find anything specifically recommended for sandy soil atm,  anything with a lot of bulk would be good and either cut it and leave it on the surface over winter or grow an overwintering one, to stop nutrients being leached out.

Title: green manure?
Post by: cawdor2001 on July 01, 2008, 11:10

For the grazing rye just turn the top over about 3 weeks before planting to give it chance to rot down, pretty quick unless you have real heavy soil.


CAwdor

Title: green manure?
Post by: noshed on July 01, 2008, 14:47

Grazing rye can be a bit of a pig to dig in. I would just sow some broad beans - all the seed places are selling them off cheap at the moment. Or you could try field beans, the bees like them..

Title: green manure?
Post by: gobs on July 01, 2008, 16:02

Well, most green manure has the ability to become a weed, gotta watch it! :lol: