A greenhouse is a closed ecosystem in which the same crops are grown every year. Because of this, crop rotation is difficult, and the soil becomes depleted over time. To improve the quality of the greenhouse soil, it is recommended to use green manure - plants specially grown to improve the quality of the soil.
Recommended green manure for greenhouses
The group of green manure crops includes about 400 plants, but only a small part of them is actually used. Green manures suitable for spring sowing in greenhouses include representatives of the following families:
- Cruciferous vegetables: mustard, rapeseed, oilseed radish - disinfect the soil and hinder the growth of weeds.
- Legumes: peas, lupine, vetch, clover, alfalfa are the main suppliers of nitrogen in areas where the same crops grow year after year.
- Cereals: oats, barley, rye, wheat, annual ryegrass, blue wheatgrass - cope well with weeds and replenish biomass.
- Buckwheat: buckwheat is unpretentious, grows without problems on poor and acidic soils, enriches the soil with potassium and phosphorus, suppresses weeds, and is suitable as a predecessor for all greenhouse crops.
- Borageaceae: phacelia is a universal precursor for all cultivated plants, repels pests, reduces acidity and stops soil erosion.
In addition to monocultures, seed mixtures are used for sowing, in which the beneficial properties of some plants are supplemented by others. One of the most popular is a mixture of oats and vetch, suitable for neutral soils.
Conditions and timing of spring sowing of green manure in a greenhouse
Green manure should be sown in the spring in closed ground as soon as it becomes possible to cultivate the soil: this usually happens from the end of February or the beginning of March. Cold-resistant species are used for work, primarily vetch, mustard, rape, oats, sweet clover, radish.
The timing of sowing green manure is affected not only by its cold resistance, but also by the material from which the greenhouse is made. Polycarbonate structures will allow sowing to begin at the end of winter. The optimal time is April - May. Cultivation of green manure continues 6-10 weeks before planting or sowing the main greenhouse crops. Mold in the greenhouse: is it dangerous and how to deal with it
Do you use green manure to improve the soil in the greenhouse in the spring?
