Alfalfa as a green manure: features, cultivation, care, benefits

The article discusses alfalfa as a green manure: description, plant features, guidance on growing, care, planting, mowing.

In order to get good yields, the soil must be fertile. To increase soil fertility, people use different types of fertilizers. Green manure plants do not look like fertilizers in the usual sense of the word. They are able to quickly help the soil to restore fertility.

Alfalfa as a siderat: beneficial properties

Alfalfa siderat: photos

Green manures are real live fertilizers. They have many useful properties and have a positive effect on the fertile soil layers.

Worms and various microorganisms are essential for the health of the soil, they play a huge role in its fertility. Green manure plants such as alfalfa serve as food for worms. And worms are very important for the health of the soil.
Green manure plants have well-developed roots. These roots go deep into the ground, which allows them to extract nutrients from the deepest layers of the soil, as well as keep it relatively loose and provide air access. Green manure plants draw nutrients from deep layers of soil and hold them on top, where the roots of other plants usually are.

In summer, green manure plants prevent strong overheating of the soil, and in winter its freezing. They also protect it from the negative effects of various weather factors, for example, rain, wind. If these green fertilizers settle for a long time on soils that are severely depleted, have undergone erosion, then they will be able to restore their fertility. Green manure plants are able to strengthen sandy soils and make clayey soils looser. Also, these green helpers are effective in combating soil acidification, they enrich the soil with nitrogen and other nutrients.

Alfalfa greens can be used as livestock feed and as a mulching material.
Green manure plants do not allow weeds to grow in the territory of their growth.

Alfalfa as a green manure: basic information

Alfalfa siderat: photos

One of the green manure plants is alfalfa. It belongs to the legume family. Many species of this plant are known in nature. Alfalfa has many positive qualities, so it will be useful for any gardener to grow it on their site.

Like all members of the legume family, alfalfa tends to store nitrogen. This process takes place continuously, all parts of the plant, including roots, stems and leaves, are of great value in this regard. Alfalfa has a very developed root system, which, growing deep into the ground, circulates oxygen and moisture.

Alfalfa, as a siderat, does not need any special growing conditions; alfalfa is rather unpretentious. She does not need regular watering, since the roots are able to extract moisture for her even in a dry period, she is resistant to cold, and can grow at temperatures of 3-5 degrees. The plant tolerates drought well, but after heavy rains, the volume of green mass increases many times over.

As a green manure, alfalfa has such a useful quality as the ability to alkalize the soil. It saturates the soil with nutrients so well that it is not inferior in efficiency to manure.If you plant alfalfa in very depleted, neglected areas, then in a couple of years you can expect positive changes. During this time, the condition of the soil will dramatically improve. After mowing alfalfa in the first year, the soil will receive many benefits, but this will not exhaust the potential of this green helper.

During the first year of life, the roots of alfalfa grow into the soil by one and a half to two meters, during the second year of life, they penetrate into the soil twice as deep. If alfalfa grows in one place for several more years, then its roots can penetrate more than 10 meters into the soil.

Alfalfa as a siderat: plant features

Alfalfa siderat: photos

In addition to the pros, alfalfa siderat has its downsides. But these are rather the features of its cultivation than disadvantages. Alfalfa seeds are in great demand and popularity, but they are quite expensive and their price is increasing every year.

After sowing, the first month is the most challenging. The vegetative period is quite long. At this time, moisture and light are very important. If this condition is not met, alfalfa may not sprout at all or sprout in small patches.

If you plan to plant alfalfa on saline soils or strongly acidic soils, then you must first add lime. If this is not done, then alfalfa will grow poorly, which means that there will be little benefit from it on the site.
In addition to alfalfa, oats, phacelia, mustard, and lupine are also used as siderates.

Alfalfa green manure: when to sow, the specifics of growing

Like any other agricultural plant, alfalfa has its own cultivation technology. In order to get the most out of growing this green fertilizer, it is worth remembering that there are plants that can make good companions, and there are plants with which alfalfa will not easily get along in the same area. It is very important to remember this feature.

It is good to plant alfalfa as green manure in the area after potatoes, corn, root crops, winter crops. On this site, then cereals, tomatoes, cabbage, radishes, cotton will feel great. They will give bountiful harvests.

How to plant alfalfa

Before you start planting alfalfa, you need to learn everything about how to properly plant this plant and prepare the soil for it in the right way. In the fall, the area allocated for planting alfalfa is plowed or dug up. If the soil on the site is acidic, then before digging or plowing the site, lime or gypsum must be added to it.

In the spring, the site is harrowed. This is necessary in order to level the soil surface and promote moisture retention in it. After that, you can start sowing alfalfa. Many varieties of alfalfa have fairly small seeds. In order to distribute them evenly throughout the entire area, you must first mix them with sand. Alfalfa seeds have a very hard shell, so many gardeners mechanically process them before planting to increase germination. You can simply grind them with sand.

The depth of planting seeds in the ground should not be more than 2 cm. As a rule, alfalfa seeds are simply scattered, and then they are passed through the plot with a special roller. If a large area is sown, the seeds are sown with a grain seeder. Alfalfa is a perennial plant, so the maximum benefit from its growth on the site will be noticeable in the second and subsequent years. Don't expect much in the first year. Therefore, it is better to plant it in neglected areas.

You can plant alfalfa as a siderat at any time, from early spring to autumn. The main condition on which good seedlings depend is the presence of moisture. The best time to plant alfalfa is, of course, spring, because at this time, after winter, the land is well saturated with moisture. Some gardeners dry seeds in the sun for better germination, and then violate the integrity of their shell.

Alfalfa care

Although moisture is important for the germination of alfalfa as a siderat, its excess can lead to the fact that the bushes will be sparse. The plant can receive a sufficient amount of moisture from the deep layers of the soil and from precipitation; additional watering is not required for it. Alfalfa requires additional watering only in very arid regions. In regions with a temperate climate, there is enough natural precipitation for the plant. Before sowing alfalfa, you can apply mineral fertilizers to the soil. Alfalfa is prone to many diseases. She often suffers from powdery mildew and other diseases. If the first signs of disease are noticed, then you need to quickly take action, the plant should be treated with Bordeaux liquid.

Mowing alfalfa

Alfalfa begins to bloom 50-60 days after planting. At this time, it must be mowed and left to rot. You can compost the cut grass or feed it to pets. After 30-40 days after mowing, the aftermath will grow back. On average, alfalfa as a siderat gives about three mows per season. It is not necessary to allow the stems of this plant to become coarse. Tough, coarse stems are ineffective as fertilizer. The period of their transformation will increase, the effect will not be achieved in the expected time.
If you approach the choice of seeds correctly, prepare the soil well, follow all the rules for sowing, crop rotation, care for and mow alfalfa on time, then it will actively grow and siderize the soil.

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