Organic farming allows you to grow cultivated plants without the use of chemical fertilizers, which can negatively affect human health. One of the most common plants for fertilizer is white mustard as green manure. It allows you to improve the quality of the soil and obtain nutritious vermicompost, which will be suitable for all crops.

The aboveground and underground parts of the plant during the process of decay can form up to 400 kg of useful substances. organic compounds for 1 hectare. As a result, due to the high enrichment of the soil with organic matter, it is possible to achieve maximum yield without using additional fertilizers.

The main benefits of white mustard are as follows:

• prevention of nitrogen leaching from the soil;
• enrichment of the soil with phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen during the decomposition of green mass and the underground part of mustard;
• the rapid growth of the plant prevents the development of weeds, suppressing them in competition for sunlight;
• essential oils in the plant prevent the development of many pathogenic bacteria and fungi, and also reduce the number of pests on the site, both underground and aboveground;
• The tap root, penetrating to a depth of 3 meters, increases soil ventilation and makes it looser.

If you do not mow the plants for the winter, the stems, which are up to 70 cm high, form a dense cover on the soil that will protect the soil from weathering. Thanks to this, the soil will retain the moisture that plants need in the spring.

Using white mustard as green manure

The use of white mustard as green manure is associated with a number of plant properties that make this green fertilizer the most convenient for growing. After embedding, when mustard greens are dug into the soil, the soil is enriched with organic matter and mineral compounds, which the plant actively releases when rotting. As a result, other crops growing after mustard receive high-quality nutrition and a powerful impetus for active growth.

1. White mustard is highly cold-resistant and can withstand temperatures of -5 degrees.
2. The crop has distinctive properties that slightly complicate agricultural technology.

Mustard is a cruciferous plant and is affected by many diseases. Because of this, it is important to remember that plants of this family should not be sown immediately after it.

It is also worth considering that the seeds are readily eaten by birds, since they are not embedded in the soil to a significant depth. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to bury the seeds or thoroughly mulch the soil before winter, if planting is carried out in the fall. In spring, its seeds are not of much interest to birds, since there is a sufficient amount of other food available.
Mustard green manure cleanses the soil of mole crickets and wireworms.

Features of cultivation

In order for green manure to be of high quality, it is important to grow it correctly. Like all plants, white mustard When cultivated, it requires compliance with a number of agricultural technology rules. You can’t just sprinkle seeds on the ground and wait for results.

Preparing the soil for planting mustard

Soddy-podzolic soils are most suitable for the plant. However, it can also be easily grown on sandy loam soil if peat is added to it. If the soils are clayey and acidic, or the garden is located on salt marshes, then you need to choose another plant as a green manure. The culture requires sufficient light and moisture.

Preparing the soil for growing mustard is not difficult. You just need to dig up the area and pick out the weed roots from the ground. After this, the soil must be watered. This completes the preparation, and you can begin planting the crop. No special care is required to grow it. The main thing is watering.

How and when to sow white mustard as green manure?

You can sow mustard in spring or autumn. Each method has its pros and cons. You can sow the crop from March. Maximum results will be obtained if mustard is planted 30 days before planting the food crop. It must be taken into account that turnips do not tolerate mustard, even as a neighbor.

To prevent mustard from inhibiting growth cultivated plants, you must wait at least 10 days after the mass of greenery is mowed and dug into the ground, and only after that planting is carried out.

Sow mustard by hand, scooping up a handful of seeds and scattering them over dug up and leveled soil with a rake. Normally there should be 5 g of seeds per 1 m2 of soil. If the seeds are too sparse, you can add another portion. If there are too many seeds, there is no need to move them, since they will still produce high-quality greens and abundant roots. Crowding, given the short growth period, will not hinder the development of the culture.

The seeds should be sprinkled with a layer of soil no more than 1 cm thick. If some of them remain on the surface, there is nothing to worry about, since plants will also grow from them, just like from seeds embedded in the soil, unless, of course, they are eaten by cruciferous flea beetles .

After the seeds are poured, the area is thoroughly watered with water from a watering can.

Using a hose to moisten the soil is strictly prohibited. A strong flow of water will cause the seeds to be excessively buried or washed out of the soil, making it impossible to obtain high-quality seedlings.

Pros and cons of autumn and spring sowing

If the scheme is selected autumn planting mustard, then it also has certain advantages and disadvantages.

The positive aspects of this option for growing green manure are:

• rapid development of plants, which allows you to obtain the necessary above-ground green part in the shortest possible time;
• covering the soil with plant stems to prevent freezing and dehydration;
• disinfection of the area from many diseases and pests due to high concentration essential oils. In winter, re-contamination of the soil does not occur, so in the spring the areas remain clean;
• no risk of seeds appearing. If plants planted in the spring are not mowed in a timely manner and produce seeds, mustard can spread and become a persistent weed;
• full development of the root system - in the spring, mustard does not have time to form a deep enough root, which will ensure high-quality loosening of the soil even at great depths;
• preventing soil erosion.

The disadvantages of this method of growing white mustard as a fertilizer are not numerous.

The disadvantages of autumn planting are:

• the impossibility of planting cruciferous plants in the spring where mustard grows;
• the risk of seeds being eaten by birds, for whom they are excellent food in the fall;
• the risk of plants freezing with the decomposition of the necessary organic compounds in them during a particularly cold winter with little snow.

The gardener himself must decide whether to plant a plant in spring or autumn, depending on what planting work is planned throughout the season.

When to mow a plant?

Mustard should be mowed before flowering in order to prevent the formation of seeds and the plant spreading throughout the garden and turning into a weed. To obtain high-quality fertilizer, you should leave the crop for 45 days after germination. After this, the green mass is mowed and dug into the ground. When to mow mustard is also determined by weather conditions. If, due to the cold snap, the crop has not developed enough, you can leave it to grow a little more. When planting a crop in the fall, you don’t have to mow it, since there is no risk of seeds appearing, and in case of frost, the plant itself will fall to the ground. In the spring, it is enough to simply dig up the area.

Using white mustard as green manure - great solution for gardeners who do not want to use chemicals on their site.

Green manure plants help restore fertility land plot and keep it in this state for a long period. Various cereals and leguminous plants. But still, gardeners and gardeners give greater preference to white mustard. This representative of the cruciferous family has numerous positive qualities.

The benefits of mustard as green manure

• Unpretentious in care and maintenance.
• Gives high yields.
• Has early germination.
• Green mass contains large number useful substances.
• It is a cold-resistant crop.
• Repels harmful insects.
• Capable of preventing the spread of most plant diseases.

Mustard planting process

Sowing seeds

Sowing mustard seeds in autumn time carried out exactly the same as in spring period. Seeds that do not require any preparation must be scattered over the prepared area and the soil leveled with a rake or sprinkled thin layer sand. The thickness of the top layer will determine how quickly the first seedlings appear, so do not bury the seeds too deep.

Covering crops

Covering beds until sprouts appear is only recommended if they are not under supervision. Open areas with freshly sown seeds are an attractive “dining room” for various birds that are not averse to eating it planting material. You can protect yourself from the raid of uninvited feathered guests using special coverings made of nonwoven fabric or nets that can be removed when seedlings appear after 3-4 days.

Temperature

Young seedlings are already cold-resistant and can grow fully even when night temperatures drop from 0 to 5 degrees below zero.

Landing dates

It is advisable to plant green manure plants in late August - early September. This will contribute to the formation of a large amount of green mass (approximately 400 kg per 1 hectare). You can use it in different ways:

• As mulch.
• For making compost.
• Apply into the soil as fertilizer.

It is recommended not to mow or dig up green manure crops sown in early autumn, but to leave them in the beds until spring. The above-ground part of the plants, after withering, will protect the soil from the cold, and the root part, gradually rotting, will enrich its structure.

Positive qualities of mustard

Almost a quarter of the mustard green mass consists of various organic substances, as well as such useful elements as potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus.

The mustard root system is designed in such a way that it can absorb many beneficial substances that are not available to other green manures.

Mustard roots penetrating deeply into the ground (almost 3 meters) can accumulate and retain moisture.

The stems of green manure plants, planted in the fall, are so strong and powerful that they can be used on the site to retain snow and as protection from strong winds.

Note to gardeners!

Mustard is a weed

With numerous useful qualities Mustard has one drawback - it can turn from a useful green manure into a weed, which will be very difficult to get rid of. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to mow the mustard plantings in a timely manner, before flowering begins. Flowering crops will leave behind a huge amount of seeds and spread by self-sowing throughout the territory. This applies only to those plantings that grew after spring or summer planting of seeds. When planting in autumn, such a danger does not exist, because there is very little time before the onset of severe cold and the mustard simply does not have time to bloom.

Planting mustard and recording predecessor plants

Mustard autumn sowing It is not recommended to use it as a fertilizer for incorporation into the soil if this area will be intended for turnips, radishes or cabbage next season. All members of the cruciferous family are damaged by the same pests and diseases. For growing the above-mentioned vegetable crops, the most the best green manures there will be cereals or legumes.

All about mustard: use in the garden (video)

Hello, dear readers!

Sowing mustard in the fall is a very important technique for fertilizing and healing the soil naturally. This method helps to improve and fertilize the soil well and does not require the use of chemicals and mineral fertilizers.

As a green manure, after sowing, mustard enriches the soil with nitrogen and phosphorus, feeding the next generations of plants. After being embedded in the ground, it quickly rots, releasing these valuable elements in the early stages of plant development. But it also has a lot of useful properties.

Why mustard is so useful:

How to sow mustard in the fall for fertilizer

Mustard can be sown early spring a month before planting the main crop. Then it is mowed down and buried in the ground. In the fall, mustard is planted after harvesting in the vacant beds. This option is the most effective for improving and fertilizing the soil.

You can sow seeds in rows with a distance of 10-15 cm between them. This way the seeds are used more economically. Or they scatter the seeds on the ground, then cover them with a rake. This method takes 2 times more seeds. But there is also more green mass.

The soil should be moist; if the weather is dry in the fall, then the mustard needs to be watered.

Be sure to sow mustard after potatoes and strawberries - it very well heals the soil after these crops and restores it, since potatoes take a lot of nutrients.

Sow seeds to a depth of 1-1.5 cm. On heavy clay soils, no deeper than 1 cm. Up to 250 grams are consumed per hundred square meters, but if the area is affected by wireworms or weeds, then you need to increase the number of seeds.

Shoots will appear in 3-4 days and it grows quickly. There is no need to be afraid of slight frosts; it is not afraid of -5°C.

In just a month, the seedlings will grow to 15 cm, and when they start to bloom, it’s time to cut them.

The mustard is mowed or cut with a flat cutter and immediately embedded in the ground.

To increase the beneficial effect, the beds are watered with Baikal or Siyanie preparations containing beneficial microorganisms. They will help useful substances become available more quickly. It would be correct to then cover the ground with film or a dark covering.

When planting in autumn, you can leave the green mass unmown until winter so that it goes under the snow. At the same time, the soil will remain loose, enriched with microelements, you won’t have to dig it in the spring, just loosen it and that’s it.

According to reviews from gardeners, mustard helps improve the health of the soil. It can also be sown all summer between rows and as an auxiliary crop to protect against pests. When sowing between rows, it is periodically mowed and immediately incorporated into the soil.

It is good to sow mustard along with potatoes, and it heals the soil, and wireworms and Colorado potato beetle scares away.

Mustard alone cannot completely restore all trace elements in the soil. you need to use different green manures - rye, peas. All green manure is buried in the ground before flowering.

Video about sowing green manure and mustard

If you want the soil in your garden to be loose and rich, sow mustard after harvesting from the beds. In the fall, before frost, the mustard will have time to sprout and, after the sprouts reach 20-40 cm, they dig it up. But they do this shallowly, since the organic part of the plant, its greens, serves as fertilizer.

It is either mowed before digging or simply dug up so that the top layer of soil is mixed with green manure, which is mustard greens. It is important not to let the plant mature until seeds form. To fertilize the soil on the site, only the green part of the plant is needed.

You don’t have to dig in the fall, but do it in the spring, when forming beds, flower beds and places for berry gardens. This is more convenient and many gardeners do just that. Sown in August-early September, it will produce abundant inputs and remain green until frost. It will freeze only when the frost is below 5 degrees. This is what is most valuable mineral fertilizer for your garden, for which everything was started.

You can sow mustard either in dug up soil or simply by scattering the seeds on the surface. Birds do not peck mustard seeds from the ground, so you don’t have to bury them for germination. White mustard is used for sowing. It sprouts faster and the greenery is more abundant. This means there will be more fertilizer.

Mustard is considered a soil improver and weed suppressant. In addition, it also destroys pathogenic fungi in the soil. What is also important for getting a future? good harvest vegetables and other cultivated plants.

If you want to spend less time on weeding, sow mustard. It suppresses the growth of weeds of all types, which means you will have to pore over the beds less.

In addition, the earth will not dry out and retain life-giving moisture. Many earthworms will appear, which will dig their passages in the ground and make it soft and loose as feathers. You will see that there will be a lot more earthworms in your garden.

In addition, the mustard roots themselves are about half a meter. This is the depth to which the soil in your gardens will be loosened. In the spring, all that remains is to form the beds and plant vegetables, berries or flowers.

• It is worth considering that it is best to sow mustard where you plan to plant tubers and seedlings in the spring, since vegetable and flower seeds will require denser soil.
• In addition, you should not sow mustard where you will plant radishes, cabbage and other cruciferous plants, as they have the same diseases and instead of a rich harvest, for example, heads of cabbage, you may get additional problems.

There are few downsides, so sow mustard in your garden after harvesting the fall harvest. Beautiful natural fertilizer, which will only be useful to the earth, enrich it and help your future harvest become generous.

More details about green manure in the video from agricultural specialists.

Be sure to read:

Fertilizers for gardens and flowers from kitchen waste

Every summer resident wants his garden to have an excellent harvest. And everyone knows: if you want to enjoy the abundant greenery of plants and collect more vegetables and berries -...

Weeds from the garden - food and treatment

When weeding a garden, a person is endlessly indignant at the abundance and variety of weeds and their vitality. He fiercely removes them from the beds and throws them away. In fact...

Mustard is a fairly high-quality green manure that has a beneficial effect on the fertile soil layer. It is planted in between the cultivation of main crops. Experts tell you how to do it correctly to get maximum benefit and minimize possible harm from the plant.

Description and characteristics of green manure

Mustard has long been successfully used to improve and nourish the soil on the Balkan Peninsula. For a long time it was believed that in the climate of the Russian Federation it is difficult for a plant to take root and reveal its green manure potential. However, practice has shown that mustard grows everywhere except the far north. And in some places it even shows the habits of a weed culture.

Botanical classification places mustard in the cruciferous family. It is related to all varieties of cabbage, turnips, lettuce, radishes, rapeseed, and rutabaga. This is important to remember when planning to plant a plant. Mustard should not be used on the site before or after its cruciferous counterparts. In this case, select a different green manure, otherwise garden planting There is a high risk of contracting illnesses characteristic of this family. For example, keel.

Not every type of crop has the properties of natural fertilizer, but only white mustard (English) or Sarepta mustard (gray mustard). A photo or video will tell you what they look like. The white variety is considered more useful for the garden. It releases and accumulates sparingly soluble forms of phosphates from the soil.

Attention! Green manure contains a large amount of nitrogen, which, when decomposed, effectively replenishes the soil.

The benefits and disadvantages of mustard for the home plot

During the growth process, the crop pulls up from the soil and accumulates valuable microelements. Before flowering, the plant is mowed down and buried in the ground right where it grew. Greens are processed naturally, saturating the top fertile layer of the garden useful substances. This feeding works well at the first stage after planting successor plants.

Mustard is an excellent green manure

Green manure qualities - not the only example benefits of mustard. She also:

• kills and suppresses weeds;
• cleanses the earth of infections and pathogens - putrefactive microorganisms, scab, late blight;
• fights pests - codling moth, slugs, wireworms;
• loosens and improves the structure of the soil;
• maintains a normal acidity balance because it retains top layer nitrogen.

Advice. In the case of autumn planting after mowing, the crop can act as an excellent mulch material. It will protect the soil from freezing and retain as much moisture as possible.

Mustard will bring such benefits if it is grown as a green manure. If you let it bloom, you will get a good honey plant. The plant is also planted next to beans, potatoes, fruit trees, grapes. It can support and accelerate the development of these crops and protect them from some harmful insects.

Mustard has proven itself well for sowing before and after cucumbers, tomatoes, legumes, and potatoes. Develops well after green manure garden strawberries. The plant can cause damage to other crops only if crop rotation is not observed:

1. In addition to other brassicas, it should not be planted after oilseed flax, sunflower, millet and beets.
2. After spring cultivation of this green manure, it is not advisable to plant root crops (beets, carrots, parsnips, etc.). The developmental features of the predecessor's root system will make the forms of the successors ugly.

Features of using green manure on a plot of land

To experience the maximum benefits of mustard, it is not enough to observe crop rotation. The important rule is to grow a crop. Agricultural technology involves the following sowing options:

1. In April, as soon as the regular night frosts disappear and the daytime temperature reaches +10 °C. The seedlings will reach the required condition in 4-7 weeks. You will be in time for planting most of the main garden crops.
2. In the fall, as the main harvest is harvested, the weather remains quite warm. After health-improving procedures for the land, mow and leave the greenery on the site.
3. Before winter. Seeds must be sown at great depths, in cold and loose soil. In this case, the greens should sprout in early spring.

To properly remove mustard, before planting it in the ground, water the greens with Baikal solution. As the plant decomposes, it must always be kept moist so that the process proceeds quickly. If your site has been occupied without a break for several seasons, you may not get the benefits of mustard, because there are not enough microorganisms to process it. In this case, compost is also added to the soil earthworms. In addition, experts do not recommend using only mustard - it must be combined with other green manures.

Planting green manure: video