Green fertilizers and green manures for cucumbers

What is it

All the obvious advantages of cucumbers have long been known to experienced gardeners. But for all its benefits and good taste characteristics, cucumbers also have some peculiarities. Their root system is capable of releasing harmful substances. Which gradually accumulate in the ground and then harm the crops planted in this area after cucumbers.

Along with the long-known recommendations to plant cucumbers again after about four years, today experts advise planting green fertilizers such as siderates in the greenhouse after harvesting. When planting vegetables in open ground, such crops as white mustard and oil radish, which belong to the group of cruciferous and fast-growing plants, have proven themselves to be the best green manures.

Fertilizers for cucumbers in the greenhouse are somewhat different - most often these are cereals, represented by rye and oats, which tend to carry out a good improvement of the land. Thanks to the cultivation of siderates, gardeners get an excellent opportunity not to completely change the soil in the greenhouse. It is also customary to grow such future green fertilizers, they are also siderates, like legumes - peas, beans, clover, lupine. Such plants will allow you not to wait several years to re-plant cucumbers, but will saturate the earth after harvesting vegetables with the nitrogen and other nutrients it needs so much. Sowing siderates can be carried out in autumn and early spring. The type of green fertilizer will depend on the choice of the season. Under the condition of spring planting, it is best to give preference to such early maturing crops as mustard, oats, vetch, phacelia.

What are they used for

In simple terms, green manures have the property, in a fairly short period of time, not only to replenish the supply of useful minerals vital for the soil, but also to destroy the toxic excretions of cucumbers, and also to loosen the soil.

Why can't you grow cucumbers in one place for several years in a row? A lot of nutrients necessary for them are extracted from the soil, pathogens of infections also accumulate in the ground, and in the process of their growth and development, as mentioned above, cucumbers release a lot of colins - harmful substances that are concentrated in the roots, stems and leaves of these wonderful vegetables ...

The task of the green manure, which today is quite capable of replacing the expensive and time-consuming procedure for the complete replacement of land, is to neutralize the pathogenic microflora formed at the time of harvesting vegetables and saturate the depleted land with missing elements. Fertilization of the soil with the help of green manure experts call the natural mechanism of creating a new fertile layer of the earth. Since the plants themselves for years could provide themselves with everything necessary, grow, develop, die off, decompose, while enriching the soil with substances necessary for future generations.

Provided proper green manure, the soil on the site can turn into a real ecosystem.And none of the mineral dressings you have introduced can so invigorate the dry, hard, clayey and depleted soil after growing cucumbers. Green manure crops saturate the soil not only with organic matter and nitrogen, but also with calcium and phosphorus. Green fertilizers are common to the land and stimulate the development of beneficial inhabitants of the site, since they create normal conditions for the life of small insects, bacteria, and worms. And the roots of plants used as green manure loosen the soil and improve its structure, increase the degree of moisture permeability, lower the acidity level, add useful substances from the deep layers of the soil to the upper one.

Also, these crops create a shade on the soil, thereby serving as reliable protection against overheating on hot days, and do not allow a large amount of moisture to evaporate. Autumn green manure protects the soil from excessive erosion by precipitation and wind blowing, can protect it from freezing, and also keep snow on the site for better saturation of the earth with moisture in spring. The last statement, of course, only applies to cucumbers grown in open field conditions.

Video "All about siderates"

How to apply

Today it is customary to use plants belonging to three families - legumes, cereals and cruciferous plants - as excellent green manures. From cereals, gardeners prefer to take rye and oats, as already mentioned above. It is best to sow rye in greenhouse conditions after harvesting the plants, closer to September.

After the snow falls, the seedlings can be filled up, although this is not a prerequisite.

In spring, rye can grow until the end of April, after which it will need to be mowed and used as mulch, or not plowed too deep into the ground.

Rye has the ability to well cleanse the soil from unnecessary weeds, as well as heal it and saturate it with the necessary elements. Oats, and even more vetch-oat mixture, can give excellent results. With the combination of these crops, the soil is not only enriched with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, but can also avoid nematode disease. Since the green mass grows rather quickly, it must be embedded in the ground after 30 days, and for better processing, spill with an EM preparation solution.

Mustard is also an excellent green fertilizer for the greenhouse. Its seeds need to be sown in a greenhouse in early March, you can do this at the end of February. In this case, cucumbers should be planted without mowing mustard, but simply form holes in the middle of the carpet of its cultures. Only in the case when the mustard grows above 20 - 30 cm, it will need to be mowed. Legumes are the leaders in soil nutrient saturation, as they can assimilate nitrogen directly from the air. They may not decontaminate soil as well as cereals and cruciferous plants, but they will add the right amount of vital nitrogen to it. Plants such as clover, annual lupine, peas, beans, and beans have proven themselves well in this business.

Video "Green Fertilizers"

Siderata are the basis of any farming. In the video, you will learn how to properly handle them and what they are useful for.