ORGANIC FERTILIZATION part 4

Green fertilizers can be used primarily at the stage of initial land development, which has already been mentioned, and in case of difficulties in obtaining manure. These mainly include legumes, the digging of which works similar to manure. They provide large amounts of organic substances and all the nutrients necessary for plants. Both depend on the type of crops grown and the yield of their green mass. Well-grown plants on the surface 100 m2, as reported by prof. On. Kossowski, not only are they equal to the dose in terms of nitrogen content 200 kg of manure, but even surpass her.

Plants sown for green manure in home gardens and plots are mainly used as so-called. ground cover plants under fruit trees and shrubs, and as feed for rabbits. They are sown in the first half of July. They can also be sown earlier, selecting species with a longer growth period. All legumes belong to such plants. Fast-growing species should predominate in the plant mixture when sown later, like buckwheat and mustard. If the garden has a predominance of later apple and pear varieties, sowing cover crops should be delayed slightly or add slowly developing species in the first weeks, and so: łubin, seradelę, vetch and phacelia. Facelia, as a honey plant, it is especially recommended for such sowing. Legumes and non-legumes and their mixtures for green manure should be sown slightly more densely than those grown for seed.

Doctor Joanna Stojanowska gives (tab. 5) composition of plant mixtures for green fertilizers and sowing standards for these plants' seeds [22],

For a high yield of plants, grown for green manure, fertilization with phosphorus is necessary, in an amount 25-35 dag of pure ingredient, and potassium, in the amount of approx 40 day after 100 m2. Nitrogen fertilization is recommended primarily for non-legumes, in the amount of approx 50 day after 100 m2, and under the butterfly 20 day after 100 m2.

The timing of plant digging depends on the type of soil. In autumn, they are dug under heavy soils, clayey. On light soils, it is advisable to leave the plants for the winter and dig them in spring. On these soils, plants decompose very quickly and nutrients are lost by washing them out of the soil. The digging depth should not be less than 16-20 cm.

Table

Sowing standards for green fertilizers