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Soil is fertilized not only by chemical but also by natural means - litter, husk, etc., tab, soil, fertilizer
Soil is fertilized not only by chemical, but also by natural means - litter, husk, etc., tab, soil, fertilizer,
.shell of eggs and others. However, you can fertilize the land in another way. For example, by planting mustard. As a fertilizer, it is used infrequently. It is usually used in cooking and medicine. But you should pay attention to this plant and gardeners who want to fertilize the soil on their land.
Differences between white mustard and sarepta
There are two types of mustard:
- As a fertilizer for a vegetable garden. Other species for this purpose are not used. But white mustard as a fertilizer is very good. It is also called English.
- The second species is sarepta or gray mustard, many people know it as Russian.
These two types of green fertilizers have a number of differences between themselves:
English mustard does not like dry soil, especially during the period of germination and bud formation. In the wet soil, it appears much more seeds. White mustard is not suitable swampy and acidic soil. The exception is domesticated swamps. The gray mustard tolerates drought normally, but it will not grow in marshland.
White mustard seeds germinate at a temperature of one to two degrees Celsius. For gray mustard, a slightly higher temperature is required - from two to four degrees with a plus sign. English white mustard is more resistant to cold weather and tolerates even slight frosts - up to minus six degrees. Russian, despite the name, is sensitive to cold. Three degrees above zero for it can be disastrous. The vegetation period of white mustard is about 60-70 days. Gray-mustard has such a period longer - it reaches a hundred days. Moreover, the north, the shorter the growing season.
The height of white mustard mustard before flowering is from half a meter to seventy centimeters. Further, it grows another 20-30 centimeters and can reach more than a meter in height. If the soil is poor and sandy, the plants will be lower. Russian mustard is slightly higher than its English "relative".Both types of mustard differ in their seeds. In white mustard, they have a spherical shape and slightly yellowish color. A thousand seeds weigh about six grams. The seeds of Russian mustard are oval, gray-black or yellow. Their weight is from two to four grams( 1000 pieces).
Pros and cons of
Mustard not only fertilizes the soil, but also performs other useful functions. She:
- eliminates the garden from weeds, especially in cultivated lands. This is because mustard itself grows rapidly;
- has good phytosanitary properties, fights pests such as slugs, pea moths and wireworms;
- helps fight plant diseases - late blight and scab potatoes. This effect is achieved due to the fact that mustard binds iron in the soil and thus heals it;
- mustard has a large biomass, which means it replenishes the soil with important organic substances. Subsequently they are processed into humus;
- fertilizer with mustard soil makes the soil more loose and structures it through roots reaching three meters. The soil absorbs more moisture and air;
- mustard helps retain nitrogen in the soil, thereby preventing its leaching. But this culture, unlike legumes, only retains nitrogen, and does not translate it into a form suitable for other plants;
- this green manure converts the substances contained in the soil into an organic form and they do not go deep;
- when frosts come and snow falls, mustard lies on the ground, protecting it from freezing;
- mustard is an excellent honey plant, and many insects pollinating plants rush to it;
- use mustard and as a companion. It improves the growth of some fruit trees, grapes and beans. If mustard is planted for this purpose, then the seeds need to be taken quite a bit. But for growing as a siderat, the number of seeds should be significantly larger;
- has a good mustard role as a precursor for potatoes, tomatoes and some other crops, because it fights against plant diseases.
Below we will tell you how and when to sow mustard, but first you need to say about its drawbacks:
- mustard, like other crucifers, can suffer from diseases and harmful insects. For this reason, it is important to consider the rules of crop rotation when sowing;
- mustard like some birds. If it bothers the gardener, he needs to cover up the seeds after sowing mulch.
Features of sowing mustard for fertilizing the soil
Planting mustard on sod-podzolic, fertilized soil. Also this plant is suitable sandy soil, cultivated by peat. But the clay, acidic soils and salt marsh mustard will not do. When sowing mustard to fertilize the soil should be remembered that this plant does not like drought and during the formation of buds requires frequent watering. Do not use mustard in the role of cabbage precursor, as they have common diseases.
White mustard can be sown from early spring to early autumn, giving it any free area. The best time in spring is 30 days before planting vegetables. Mustard as a fertilizer in the fall is sown immediately after the harvest, while there is still shady moisture in the soil. You can embed the seeds to a depth of one and a half to two centimeters, leaving a distance of 15 centimeters between them. The consumption of seeds at the same time will be about 150 grams per hundred or a little less.
Another way is to sprinkle seeds into the beds, further harrowing with a rake and sprinkling with earth. When mustard is planted to fertilize the soil in the second way, it must be borne in mind that the seed consumption is obtained at least twice as much. The first shoots will appear in three or four days. After five to six weeks, the plant will grow to twenty centimeters and will need to be mowed. The resulting mass must be crushed and embedded in the ground, watering by means of EM, such as "Shining" and others. Next, cover with roofing material or a dark film.
If you are sowing this plant for the first time, it is worth seeing how the mustard is planted for fertilizer. Videos on this topic can be found on the Internet. It should be emphasized once again that mustard loves moisture, so it must be watered often. This is especially important when for a long time there is no natural rainfall in the form of rain. Such care for the mustard will help ensure that there is loose, rich and healthy soil in the garden plot. If mustard is grown for honey collection, the number of seeds should be reduced and the plants should be sown more distant from each other.
If you wish, you can collect your seeds. To obtain seeds, sow mustard in the spring, and not very tight. When summer planting seeds can not be obtained. English mustard pods do not crack, so they can be collected both during the day and in the evening. Russian mustard has more fragile pods, so its seeds should be collected early in the morning or late in the evening.
