Guide to using wheat as green manure in autumn and spring

The successful use of wheat as green manure has long been confirmed by practice. It has all the qualities of a green fertilizer - a cheap and effective technology for restoring soil fertility after its active use.

What is green manure

Green manure is a plant that is grown on a temporarily empty plot of land in order to enrich the soil. These are mainly annual crops. Subsequently, the green mass is plowed into the soil before or after flowering. This method saturates the soil with macro- and microelements in easily accessible form, improves its structure, and suppresses the growth of weeds. A humus layer is created on the surface, and the root system of green fertilizer feeds worms and beneficial microbes that process nitrogen.

Green manure crops, in addition to enriching the soil, have sanitary qualities: they fight bacteria, fungal spores, and suppress the proliferation of pests.

Important! The technology of sowing intermediate plants satisfies one of the main principles of fertility conservation - agricultural land should not be left without vegetation cover.

Why is wheat good as green manure in autumn and spring?

The benefit of wheat as an autumn green manure is to increase the physical and biological composition of the soil and reduce erosion. The cereal increases its green mass in the shortest possible time.Foliage rich in organic matter creates a protective cover during cold weather, quickly rots in the spring and increases the humus content in the top layer of soil.

A maximum of 1.5 months passes from seed germination to mowing. Sow the grain in the area where it is planned to plant vegetables and herbs.

In early spring, wheat can be sown in beds that will be occupied by heat-loving crops with a late planting date. Its shoots will protect the soil from drying out and weathering, and will repel some pests.

After 12-14 days, the stems are cut off, placed in compost or mulched. Before planting the seedlings, about two weeks should pass from this point on, so that soil microorganisms have time to decompose the fibrous root system of the cereal. To speed up the process, special preparations based on beneficial bacteria and yeast are used.

Advantages and disadvantages

The benefits of wheat as green manure:

1. It does not require special care.
2. The branched root system of the cereal crop suppresses the growth of weeds.
3. Useful for all types of soil, especially in areas with a strong slope, in rainy and windy areas.
4. Greens can be used as animal feed.
5. The grain returns useful substances back to the earth and processes poorly soluble compounds.
6. Reduces the subsequent application of fertilizers, increases the quality and quantity of the harvest of future crops.

The disadvantage of wheat is that after it it is impossible to sow another crop from the cereal family, since their nutrition and diseases are the same. In addition, the culture attracts wireworms.

Important. Plants must be harvested before grains form, otherwise the usefulness of wheat as green manure will be significantly reduced.

For which crops is it suitable?

Anything grows successfully after wheat vegetables and root vegetables.Gardeners note the positive effect of green manure on the harvest potatoes, garden strawberries. cucumbers, zucchini and greens will quickly enter the growing season due to the available nitrogen.

Which is better: winter or spring wheat

Wheat is grouped into spring varieties and winter varieties. For each farming region, the variety that will produce the most yield under these conditions is selected.

Biological features of both species

Differences of spring wheat:

• more vulnerable to diseases and pests;
• unsuitable for acidic soils;
• hard varieties require the addition of nutrients and plenty of moisture;
• can be sown before winter, germinates at +2°C;
• It is impossible to cultivate podzolic soils with it.

Spring crops will only be beneficial on lands that have already been put into use.

Productivity is on average 25% higher. Winter wheat is ideal for areas with unpredictable weather conditions:

• withstands temperature changes, drought-resistant;
• germinates earlier in the fall and is not damaged by frost;
• in the spring it quickly gains green mass.

However, with little snow but frosty winters, there is a high risk of freezing.

Sowing dates for wheat green manure in autumn

In mild and warm climates, green manure is sown in mid-autumn. In more severe conditions, work should be completed before mid-October, during the Indian summer.

Winter varieties are sown only in the fall, after the site is cleared, since they require vernalization at sub-zero temperatures. Minor shoots will appear before winter, and active growth will begin after the snow melts. If you sow in the spring, the seedlings will be rare and weak, and the green manure effect will be minimal.

in spring

Spring green manure is sown at an air temperature of +5°C, and a ground temperature of +3°C.Work begins as early as possible, when there is still enough moisture in the soil for seeds to germinate. If this moment is missed, the yield will decrease by 25%.

Compliance with the deadlines for spring wheat is necessary for the formation of a secondary root system, which increases the tillering of the plant.

Wheat sowing technology

The depth of planting of seeds depends on the condition of the soil - on sandy and sandy loam, 8-10 cm is acceptable. On clay and loam soils, planting is shallow, 3-4 cm. Mineral and organic fertilizers are applied if desired. If the greens will not be fed to pets, then you can spray the area with herbicides.

The seeds are first soaked in an antifungal agent or manganese solution. Next, they are dried and heated in the sun.

Winter

Before sowing cereals, all plant residues are removed from the beds. The earth is dug up to the depth of a spade bayonet or harrowed with a rake. If the soil is dry, then moisten it 2-3 days before work.

The required amount of seed material is scattered evenly, embedded in the soil with a rake and covered with a small amount of compost. After some time, it is advisable to water it.

Spring

After the snow melts, the blocks of earth are leveled with a rake. The best way to sow spring crops is in furrows; it increases the yield and reduces the occupied area.

In autumn, spring crops should have time to pick up greens 40-45 days before frost.

Terms and conditions of greening

The main rule for choosing green manure is that the crop and subsequent plants belong to different families.so that there is no shortage of the same microelements and common pathogens.

Conditions for successful greening:

• the soil must be loose;
• the seeds are rolled for better contact with the ground;
• Green tops need to be mowed in time to prevent the stems from becoming too dense.

Attention! Make sure that birds do not peck the seedlings.

What can you combine wheat with as green manure?

Combining wheat with other green manures gives even more benefits to the land. The combination with legumes completely covers the need for nitrogen and potassium.

Barley, rye, and oats are also used as green manure from cereals. Barley grows well in symbiosis with lupine.

Examples of mixtures:

• for future planting of potatoes: wheat - 30%, vetch - 20%, rapeseed, radish and mustard - 15% each;
• after onions: in equal parts wheat, lupine, oilseed radish, mustard, vetch, rapeseed;
• after nightshades: wheat, peas, lupine - 20%, radish and mustard - 15% each, rapeseed - 10%.

Green manure cleaning

Green manure wheat is processed in two ways.

Direct embedding into the ground:

1. The wheat is cut with a flat cutter at a depth of 5-6 cm, the greens are collected and chopped.
2. The finished biomass is watered with any EM preparation and buried under digging, about 8-12 cm deep.

Mulching:

1. The greens are mowed, finely chopped with a bayonet shovel, and watered.
2. After 2-3 days, sprinkle with rotted compost or water with a solution of special bacteria.
3. The mass is distributed over the surface of the bed 10-15 days before planting vegetables and other crops so that the humification process is completed.
4. For seedlings and sowing seeds, make depressions of the required size directly in the mulch.

You can leave the cut tops lying under the snow without processing. It creates a protective layer from overheating and waterlogging, and stimulates the growth of the worm population. The root system will loosen the soil as much as possible and increase the number of humus microorganisms.

Important! If you plant seedlings next to mature wheat, its powerful root system will suppress the growth of the young plant, even to the point of death.

Advice from experienced farmers

Experienced farmers believe that the correct use of green manure crops is equivalent to the application of manure. The benefits for the garden will be equal, while green manure is much cheaper and easier in terms of labor costs.

A mixture of wheat and mustard will provide excellent soil disinfection. Due to the phytosanitary properties of mustard, the cereal will not be infected by a pathogen; pests will also leave such places.

Do not embed a large amount of wet mass into the soil. It will not have time to decompose and will turn sour. The more greenery has grown, the deeper and wider the planting in the garden bed.

This is interesting:

How and when to mow oats as green manure.

What is good about rye, how to use green manure in the fall and how to plant it correctly.

Conclusion

Growing wheat as green manure eliminates many problems associated with soil restoration and improvement. Proponents of organic farming have long and successfully used cereals in combination with other plants.