Phacelia siderata: when to sow at home?

Beneficial features

An annual plant of the aquifolia family Phacelia tansy is very unpretentious, grows on all types of soils, requiring no maintenance. She is satisfied with black soil, peat, clay or sand - in any conditions it grows to a height of 50 cm to 1 m, and very quickly. Flowering time begins 40–45 days after sowing, and it germinates within a week. The root deepens to 20 cm, making the soil lighter and more breathable. The green mass grows quickly, the cut off quickly decomposes, enriching the soil with nitrogen fertilizers, which makes it comparable to manure. Only, unlike manure, it does not litter the area with weed seeds.

Phacelia attracts beneficial insects that fight pests, so it is often sown around the perimeter of the garden. And when it grows in the garden, pollination of all fruit trees is ensured. It grows densely enough to keep weeds from growing. Phacelia is sown on vacant land especially for bees. Honey is considered not only tasty, but very useful, it is recommended to use it as an analgesic, antipyretic and antibacterial agent for many diseases. Phacelia is often grown for livestock feed, in this capacity it is better than many feed mixtures.

This beautiful plant is able to return fertility to depleted soil, making heavy clay soils much easier, enriching them with useful substances, making them breathable in a very short time. Literally one year is enough if you sow phacelia several times in one place, embedding green mass in the ground before flowering, or at the very beginning. When phacelia grows in the garden, it prevents weeds from developing, in addition, it also neutralizes acidic soil, which also reduces the number of weeds used to acidic soil.

Video "Using Phacelia"

Informational video on the benefits of using phacelia.

When to sow

Siderata are usually sown in early spring, so that they have time to grow before planting or sowing the main plant. Phacelia can be sown as soon as the ground is free of snow, it perfectly tolerates not only cold, but even frosts down to -8 degrees. It can be sown in rows or scattered seeds randomly (small seeds are usually mixed with sand), then hardened to get a depth of 3 - 4 cm. If the ground is even slightly damp, watering is not necessary. After a week, the grass will sprout, after another 5 - it will begin to bloom. Before flowering, it must be cut off, embedded in the ground, digging it up, or left lying on top - anyway, after decomposition, the nutrients will get to their intended purpose, but for now the grass can serve as mulch. After flowering, the greens will become tougher, but less rich in nutrients.

Phacelia can be sown at any time, and in the fall too. Immediately after harvesting (literally in a couple of hours), vegetables are sown on the vacant garden bed, and then dug up before flowering begins. If the grass has not bloomed before frost, you can leave it and dig it up in the spring.A plot with bad, heavy infertile soil can be turned into the exact opposite in 1 year - with the help of phacelia, make it fertile and get a good harvest the next year. To do this, from frost to frost, you need to sow it, cut it off before flowering, dig it up and repeat the whole cycle from the beginning. If you start when the snow melts, and finish just before the very frosts, it will turn out at least 4 times.

Small seeds of phacelia are mixed with sand (for uniformity) and scattered over the site, you can sow in rows, this will not affect the result. After that, you just need to fence it so that there is a small layer of earth on top, you don't even need to water it if the soil is wet after winter. After about 45 days, the grass needs to be dug up. Before that, you can prune with a flat cutter, wait a few days, but not longer, and sow again. Digging allows you to raise the infertile layer from a depth equal to the bayonet of a shovel, and lower the grass to the same depth. When such an operation is performed several times, the grass, which means nitrogen fertilizers, are distributed at a depth of up to 40 cm.The last time before the frost, the grass should not be cut, it is better to leave it for the winter, it will retain more moisture by the spring, and will not allow the soil to wash out or freeze ...

Advantages

Phacelia can protect seedlings from cold weather in spring or too bright sun. To do this, they first sow it in the garden in early spring, then separate holes are arranged among the growing grass, in which they plant zucchini, cabbage, pumpkin, and tomatoes. Tall grass covers from the sun, saves from the wind, retains moisture. And then the phacelia is cut off, leaving it to lie between the growing vegetables, it continues to retain moisture and temperature, and does not allow weeds to grow. Over time, the grass will still turn into fertilizer.

If you sow phacelia in early spring, then 200-300 kg of green mass will grow on 1 hundred square meters, which, in terms of fertilizer quality, is equivalent to 300 kg of manure. Unlike manure, those sown 150-200 g of seeds require much less money and effort, in addition, they do not allow weeds to grow, and manure provokes their growth (there are many seeds in it). Before the main planting of vegetable crops, the phacelia must be cut off, it is left in the garden in the form of mulch or dug up, driving it into the ground.

It is not at all difficult to get your own phacelia seeds. To do this, you need to leave some of the plants to bloom and ripen. Then they are plucked, the bundles are dried in ventilated boxes, the seeds are shaken out of the dry ones.

Phacelia roots perfectly loosen the soil, after pruning, even without digging, they decompose, thereby enriching the soil with nutrients. The aboveground and underground parts of the plant, decomposing, saturate the soil with the minerals and compounds it needs. So gradually the soil becomes nutritious, light, breathable. This guarantees a good harvest for subsequent vegetable plantings. It is sown in the aisles of potatoes, after hilling, it helps to retain moisture and looseness of the earth, thanks to which the tubers get more moisture and air, which has a great effect on the yield.

Useful properties of culture

Phacelia makes the soil and the entire environment much healthier. It deacidifies the soil, this allows you to get rid of some perennial weed plants, grow more vegetable crops. The phacelia scent attracts certain insects that fight pests. If at least a little of this wonderful plant grows on the site, then there will be significantly fewer moths, leaf rollers, apple flower beetles on it. Wireworms, nematodes and locusts magically disappear from the beds. There are much fewer cases of late blight and root rot.

If you sow it in a bed with beans, there will be much less weevils, aphids, and pea weevils. This unpretentious annual plant with beautiful flowers can do wonders at their summer cottage.It will heal the entire area, get rid of pests and weeds, attract bees and bumblebees, structure and fertilize the soil.

Video "Sown area"

What the seeded area looks like, along with helpful tips and details.