Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Nomad on June 06, 2013, 16:31
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What are my options for summer sown green manures?
I got my plot about a month ago and about a thirrd of it I plan to use as a fruit section in the autumn. It seems a shame to leave it bare until then, but I have enough planting to do in the other two thirds, so I'd like to sow some kind of green manure - hopefully this will help keep the weeds down too! I've read that Fenugreek or Red clover would be suitable, is there anything else I should be considering?
I have tried searching, but most of the info I found is about green manure over the winter...
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I use mustard a lot. Fast growing, easy to dig in, helps break up the soil. :)
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Very timely question - I also have plans for a soft fruit bed so would have a plot unused until the autumn.
Is mustard definately best, or will there be any other suggestions?
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On the main site:
http://www.allotment-garden.org/fertilizer/green-manures.php
If you have club root on the plot, avoid mustard as I think it is a brassica and thus affected.
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I like to use phacelia the bees love it :)
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Phacelia is great. Mustard and Fenugreek are good.
Clovers don't work fast enough for me. 3 months after sowing they are still scrawny little weeds.
I think each site is different so experiment needed. My next experiment will be grazing rye and alfalfa.
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I put in mustard in the Spring ( not in the brassica bed) and was impressed with how quickly it grew and the texture of the soil later after I had dug it in. It really loosened up my soil which hadn't been cultivated for years :). I plan to try field beans in the winter in some of my beds.
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Another alternative is buckwheat. Like mustard and phacelia it gives rapid and dense cover. Fenugreek is not so dense. My favorite is phacelia because it is easy to manage. You can either dig then in or pull them and add them to the compost heap.
The alternative is a black plastic sheet. Keeps the weeds down and does not need to be dug in
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We're trying mustard on any beds where it is just too late to do anything edible.
As Yorkie says though, it's a brassica, and can encourage club root!
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Another vote for Buckwheat. Grows like a weed giving dense cover and if left to flower, will attract every pollinating insect for miles. Rotation neutral as far as i know and easy to dig in too.
I get mine from the local supermarket £1.89 for 500g - it`s in the whole foods. Just don`t buy the roasted stuff ;)
Will
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Another alternative is buckwheat. Like mustard and phacelia it gives rapid and dense cover. Fenugreek is not so dense. My favorite is phacelia because it is easy to manage. You can either dig then in or pull them and add them to the compost heap.
The alternative is a black plastic sheet. Keeps the weeds down and does not need to be dug in
I sowed buckwheat and phacelia in one of my beds, the buckwheat grew nicely but the phacelia never germinated. I'm wondering whether to try again with the other half of the seeds or try a different green manure.
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There's lots of information here too and you can filter the selection by month on the left hand side which is very useful. :)
http://www.sowseeds.co.uk/seeds/green-manure-seeds/
I'm planning to sow some clover, fodder radish and Italian grazing rye in the empty areas since I have some packets from last year. I was tempted by the lupins but decided to be restrained as it's only a small area.
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must try some this year....interesting reading
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Wow, loads of replies! Thanks people :D
I think I'm going to try Buckwheat first - hopefully I can find some in the supermarket in the morning. I've read that chickens like to eat them too, my hens will be delighted!
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Buckwheat is great, it is also supposed to help supress couch. Like Salmo I can't get Phacelia to germinate, although others on the site have success with it so I think it is me! :)
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Buckwheat is great, it is also supposed to help supress couch.
True that:
http://www.farmersguardian.com/home/arable/arable-news/buckwheat-could-perform-a-weed-suppression-role/39658.article
Will