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Green Manuring Crops
For Spring Sowing and Summer Incorporation
Mustard
White and Brown. Both can be used as green manure crops which grow rapidly and produce large qualities of biomass and act as excellent weed suppressants. Both are excellent scavengers of nitrogen and have deep rooting systems. When spring sown, ensure the crop is cut before seed-set and before stems become woody, otherwise it will be slow to decompose.
Brown mustard is important because of its biofumigation properties, ie it has a high glucosinolate content which suppresses soil-borne pests and diseases and can therefore help reduce wireworm populations. Unlike white mustard it is winter hardy and is especially useful as over-wintering green cover after maize, potatoes and sugar beet, reducing soil erosion, fertiliser leaching and water run-off.
White sowing rate 5kg/acre, pack size 5kg and 25kg untreated
Brown sowing rate 2-3kg/acre, pack size 5kg untreated
Buckwheat
A very quick growing, fast maturing annual with excellent weed suppression. Somewhat shallow rooted but has the capability of scavenging phosphorus from the soil and holding this for later incorporation. The plant will re-grow if cut after the onset of flowering so is excellent for mulching. The plant will tolerate infertile soil but performs badly on heavy, wet, or compacted soils. Frost tolerance is poor.
Pack size 5kg untreated
Crimson Clover
Brightly coloured crimson flowers which attract large numbers of beneficial insects. Excellent weed suppression. Fixes good quantities of nitrogen. Lower yields of biomass than Red Clover but has much shorter growing period. Frost tolerance has shown over recent years to be better than expected. Crimson Clover adapts to soils of low fertility, but does have a lime requirement. Biomass degrades very quickly in the soil.
Pack size 1kg & 25kg untreated
Yellow Blossom Clover
A biennial plant that can be left for two years, however it produces very woody stems and needs to be mulched carefully prior to seed set, avoiding damage to the plants’ crowns. Yellow Blossom Clover ceases aerial growth in early September and stores food reserves for the winter, during which the tap root extends rapidly and so provides excellent penetration of the sub-soil. The plant is drought resistant, tolerates poor soil conditions and is a very good fixer of nitrogen. The yellow form is more winter hardy and will establish better in dry conditions, bus is not as competitive as the white form.
Pack size 1kg untreated
Phacelia
Establishes fast and matures within 10 – 12 weeks, producing a large root mass making the plant an excellent soil improver and weed suppressant. It will produce a multitude of flowers, providing a good source of nectar for beneficial insects, but needs to be cut and incorporated into the soil well before setting seed or the stems will become woody and slow to decompose, and it could itself become a weed. The plant is a good nitrogen scavenger but can be slow to release this to the following crop. Frost tolerance is poor.
Pack size 1kg & 5kg untreated
Alsike Clover
Of Scandinavian origin and better adapted than Red or White Clover to wet acid soils and cooler conditions, although lower yielding of biomass. Growth habit is similar to Red Clover.
Pack size 25kg untreated
Strawberry Clover
Similar to White Clover but has better autumn and winter growth and is tolerant of wet and salty soils.
Pack size 1kg untreated (limited)
Black Medick/Yellow Trefoil
A biennial/annual legume that can give good yields even on thin calcareous soils. It may be grazed by sheep but its main use is as a green manure under-sown in cereals.
Borage
Borage, also known as Starflower, is an annual herb, growing to a height of 2 – 3 feet with bright blue flowers; there is also a white flowered variation. The crop was traditionally grown for culinary and medicinal uses, although the crop is commercially grown today for its oil content.
Borage can be used in companion planting. If planted near tomatoes it is said to improve the tomatoes flavour and to improve growth. The crop, because of its large leaves and succulent growth, can be used as a green manure crop if sown in the spring, the leaves providing an abundant source of easily digestible material which will readily break down when incorporated into the soil without reducing the mineral N content within the soil structure.
Sowing rate 5kg/acre
Pack size 5kg untreated
Autumn / Winter Sowing and Spring Incorporation
Autumn sown crops which go through the winter will scavenge nitrogen from soils thus preventing ‘leaching’ and can be incorporated in the spring, or can provide a source of forage in the spring, prior to incorporation. They also help to control erosion especially on late harvested maize stubbles. Certain species can be utilised to provide a nitrogen fixer which is then readily available to a spring sown crop.
Forage Rye
Forage Winter Rye is used for scavenging nitrogen and preventing leaching throughout the winter months and is one of the most efficient crops for this purpose. Forage Rye should be used wherever possible as it produces more leafy material that the grain rye counterparts. It is best incorporated in mid April, if left any later it will produce vast amounts of dry matter that may lock up the available nitrogen absorbed during the winter.
Pack size 25kg untreated
Italian Ryegrass
Autumn sown Italian Ryegrass will produce seed in the following year, so it is important that the crop be incorporated by mid April to ensure there are no flowering heads in this second year. Whilst an excellent green manure, delays in incorporation will provide the ideal conditions for the species to produce seed and consequently become a problematic weed. A good scavenger of nitrogen, preventing leaching and soil erosion, whilst also providing a large root mass for soil conditioning and improvement. If seeding is going to take place in late autumn then use tetraploid varieties as they will establish more rapidly and will be more winter hardy.
Pack size 25kg untreated
Cocksfoot
When used as an under-sown species at very low seed rates into winter wheat, it acts as an excellent soil improver on soils prone to summer drought. Over a number of years it will provide an beneficial source of high fibrous root development which will help improve soil structure and composition. Sown at 0.5kgs per acre it will not present a problem in the growing cereal crop as the species throws very few heads in its first year of production.
Pack size 15 – 20kg untreated
Forage Rape
Whilst maybe not always practicable for horticultural enterprises there is a place for this species within a rotation if used with care. Decomposition can, particularly with the high glucosinolate varieties, release chemicals into the soil which can inhibit some soil-borne pathogens, pests and weeds.
Pack size 5kg & 25kg untreated
Vetches
A nitrogen producer for the winter months. Winter vetch is very valuable as autumn cover because its large seeds enable it to be established later than most other legumes and thus can be fitted in after the harvest of many summer sown crops. Where vetches grow well they will provide large amounts of nitrogen which is available to the following crop. Always ensure that winter hardy varieties are sown such as Early English Winter Vetch.
Pack size 25kg untreated (limited)
Inter-Row Cropping
Species such as Yellow Trefoil, Cocksfoot, Crimson Clover and White Clover can be spring sown either into established winter crops or as a companion to a spring sown crop. They act as weed suppressants and in the case of the legumes provide some fixed nitrogen plus biomass for incorporation after harvest. We have started looking at other forms of legume for inter-row cropping and will evaluate these over the next few years for their suitability under UK conditions.
Long Term Crops
Yellow Blossom Clover
As previously stated is a biennial crop and will provide a full two years’ production when spring sown, thus enabling the plant to establish and fix atmospheric nitrogen in the first year. It can then be cut and mulched on to the surface of the soil to degrade over the winter and emerge the following spring to provide a huge mass of material, which can be inverted into the soil prior to the stems becoming woody in midsummer.
Pack size 1kg untreated
White Clover
Can be used very much in the same way as Red Clover but being shallow rooted makes little growth in dry conditions. Continued defoliation stimulates root growth and nitrogen fixation. The species is defined by leaf size from small to large, with the smaller types being more suited to cutting. As with all leguminous crops a careful watch must be made on the rotation as continued cropping can lead to disease problems which are difficult to eradicate.
Pack size 1kg & 25kg untreated
Red Clover
Pure stands of Red Clover can provide large quantities of biomass whilst fixing large quantities of atmospheric nitrogen. If it is used for inter-row cropping sowing should be made as late as is practicably possible. Red Clover is an aggressive plant and will compete not only with weeds but with the cash crop into which it has been sown, so late sowings will help providing there is sufficient moisture for establishment. If grown with a grass companion however, the results will be improved as there will be not only nitrogen fixation but increased root development closer to the soil surface from the grass which will improve the structure and composition of the soil. Grass and clover crops will take large amounts of P and K from the soil when used for silage or conservation. These should be replaced as they are essential to the legume to enable it to maximise the fixing of nitrogen.
Pack size 1kg & 25kg untreated
Lucerne
A longer term perennial clover which fixes large quantities of nitrogen. The plant has a very long tap root and is ideally suited to light and chalky soils as well as dry climates. Lucerne is not one of the most competitive legumes and in its early stages of development competition should be kept to a minimum. All Lucerene organic and conventional seed should be inoculated.
Pack size 25kg pre-inoculated
Agricultural Chicory
Has a very deep tap root and when used in conjunction with grasses and clovers will provide an extra dimension to the quality of soil improvement. Not only will the clover species add to the soil reserves of nitrogen but the huge root development of grass species such as Cocksfoot will, with the penetrating root system of the Chicory, provide for improvements in soil drainage, water retention within the upper strata and improvement of the soil’s capability to provide a better tilth, coupled with improved humus and fibre content.
Pack size 1kg & 25kg untreated
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