Download - Sort Out Your Soil
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
1/21
A practical guideto Green Manures
By Anton Rosenfeld & Francis RaynsEdited by Ian Wilkinson & Isabel Milner
SORTOUT
YOURSOIL
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
2/21
CONTENTS
WHAT IS A GREEN MANURE? 5What is a cover crop?
WHY USE GREEN MANURES? 6Nitrogen management
Soil improvement
Ensuring the nitrogen needs of the nextcrop are met
Weed, pest and disease control
Forage for livestock
WILL GREEN MANURES 10SUIT YOU?
Why grow a green manure crop when a cashcrop could be grown instead?
Will a green manure create extra work?
Wont it be too late to sow a green manureafter harvest?
Will green manure management clash withwork on cash crops?
Does the cost of seed justify the benet?
Organic seeds
MANAGING GREEN 12MANURE CROPS
When to sowWhat to grow over winter
How to sow and establish
Legumes and inoculation
Mowing
Incorporation
Undersowing
CHOOSING A GREEN 14MANURE CROP
Soil Type
SINGLE SPECIES OR MIXTURE? 16
Long term mixes
Winter mixes
Summer mixes
GREEN MANURE PLANTS 17
LEGUMES
Crimson Clover 17
Fenugreek 18
Lucerne / Alfafa 19
Persian Clover 20
Red Clover 21
Sainfoin 22
Sweet Clover 23
Vetch 24
White Clover 25
Yellow Trefoil / Black Medick 26
NON-LEGUMES
Buckwheat 27
Chicory 28
Cocksfoot 29
Grazing Rye 30
Italian Ryegrass 31
Mustard 32
Perennial Ryegrass 33
Phacelia 34
Westerwolds Ryegrass 35
GROWTH HEIGHTS 3637
AUTHORS 38
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
3/21
A green the soil. prot, into benethey are shortly b
With risian ever-ian enviromanuresto cut inpthe soil.
There is to choosmustardsas clovernitrogenbenets and weed
WGR
Greenbecomto cut
Left: Grazing rye and vetch
Below: Harvesting wheat
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
4/21
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
5/21
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
6/21
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
7/21
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
8/21
All green manures will add organic matter
CHOOSING A GREENMANURE CROP
AIM: AIM:Improve soil structure Fix N Improve soil & fix N
1-12months
1Yrplus
Overwinter Summer
CocksfootRed cloverChicorySweet cloverSainfoinLucerne
VetchGrazing rye
Westerwoldsryegrass
MustardSweet clover
VetchRed cloverPersian clover
Vetch Sweet clover VetchRed clover
Yellow trefoilCrimson cloverBuckwheatFenugreek
Red cloverSainfoinLucerneSweet clover
White clover
Red clovSainfoinSweet clLucerne
Grazing rye/ vetch mix
Red clover VetchSweet clover
1-12months
1Yrplus
1-12months
1Yplus
The first stage in deciding whichspecies or mixture to grow is todetermine your aims. These will
then help you make the right choice.Sowing a mixture of plants willcombine the benefits each offers.
SOIL TYPEThe soil type willinfluence the choice ofgreen manure as some
species are bettersuited to certain soils.
All green manures w
Overwinter Summer Overwinter Summer
CHOOSING A GREEN MANURE CROP
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
9/21
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
10/21
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
11/21
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
12/21
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
13/21
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
14/21
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
15/21
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
16/21
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
17/21
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
18/21
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
19/21
B u c k w h e a t
C h i c o r y
G r a z i n g R y e
P h a c e
l i a
GROWTH HEIG
C r i m s o n
C l o v e r
F e n u g r e e
k
L u c e r n e
/ A l f a
f a
P e r s i a n
C l o v e r
R e
d C l o v e r
S a i n f o i n
S w e e
t C l o
v e r
V e t c h
W h i t e
C l o v e r
Legumes
1m
50cm
20cm
70cm
80cm
90cm
60cm
30cm
40cm
Y e l l o w
T r e f o i l
C l e
T r
Buckwheat
This will reacha height of upto 90cm.
Chicory
After leaf developmentat around 60cm, theplant quickly bolts toproduce a oweringhead at 100 150cm.This is unsightly,although the owersattract many insects.
C
To
Grazing Rye
This will attaina height of atleast 1m.
P
Ra8totoatoin
Phacelia
This grows to around40 50cm.
Crimson clover
This can reach a
height of 70cm ifnot cut.
Fenugreek
This willgrow to a heightof around 1m.
Lucerne
The crop will attain
a height of at least1m if not mown,but should be cutbefore this to avoidan abundance ofwoody material.
Red clover
This will reach a height
of at least 60cm if leftunchecked. Allowingthe crop to producetoo much plantmaterial runs the riskof smothering the cropif cut and mulched.
Sainfoin
This will grow to aheight of around 1m.
Sweet clover
This can grow to a
height of over 2mif left uncontrolled,although at this stageit will have becomewoody and difcultto incorporate.
White clover
This will reach a
height of 20 30cm,depending on leafsize. Allowing the cropto produce too muchplant material runsthe risk of smotheringthe crop if cut andmulched.
Yellow trefoil
This will reach aheight of 20 30cmif not mown.
Vetch
This will grow to aheight of around 50cm,or higher if grown inconjunction with a cereal(eg grazing rye or oats)to provide support.
Persian clover
This will reach aheight of at least60 70cm if leftunchecked. It isnormally mownat this point.
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
20/21
AUTHORS
Francis Rayns BSc PhDFrancis is currently Horticulture Research Manager at GardenOrganic (formerly known as HDRA). He has been involved in alarge number of projects (funded by Defra, HDC, WRAP, the EU andprivate companies) concerned with fertility management, particularlyin organic eld vegetable systems. This has included studies of theeffects of a range of green manures, composts, animal manuresand other soil amendments. He has worked to develop computermodels for rotational planning and has been responsible for longterm experiments to compare the effects of different rotations onsoil quality and crop performance.
Anton Rosenfeld BA MSc PhD Anton is currently Research Ofcer at Garden Organic. He hasworked in a number of projects concerned with sustainablestrategies for vegetable production and also projects focusing onuses of green manures and composts to build soil fertility fundedby Defra, HDC and WRAP. He has worked closely with growers bothin the UK and overseas and is currently coordinating a project todevelop a resource of knowledge and varieties for growing exoticvegetables. He also delivers training on a range of horticulturaltopics including soil fertility.
Ian WilkinsonIan is the Managing Director of Cotswold Seeds where he hasworked for over 25 years. He has a particular interest in legumesand their application in modern farming systems and is associatedwith the promotion of red clover in the UK. He trained in Farm andGrassland Management at Berkshire College of Agriculture.
Isabel MilnerIsabel works at Cotswold Seeds, advising farmers and growerson grass and forage crops and coordinating communications forthe company. She graduated with a First from the Royal Agricultural
Colleges Graduate Diploma in Agriculture in 2010 after a 15 yearcareer in the media, mainly working at the Guardian andObserver newspapers.
EDITORS
Acknowledgements
We wish to acknowledge Defra and HDC who funded much of thework over the last 15 years that formed the basis of this booklet.We would like also to acknowledge input from Stephen Briggs(Abacus Organic Associates), Peter Knight (Vegetable ConsultancyServices) and Roger Hitchings (Organic Research Centre). Thanksshould also go to Duchy College, IBERS, Warwick HRI and the manyfarmers who participated in trials. Thanks to NIAB for supplyingsome of the photographs in this publication.
-
8/13/2019 Sort Out Your Soil
21/21
Cotswold SeedsCotswold Seeds was founded in 1974 and deals with over8,000 farmers throughout the UK. The company has a specialistinterest in grass and legumes and offers advice on growing andmanaging these crops to those working in the livestock, arableand horticultural sectors. The company is also involved in a widerange of research projects across the EU.
www.cotswoldseeds.com
Garden OrganicGarden Organic, the UKs leading organic growing charity, hasbeen at the forefront of the organic horticulture movement for50 years and is dedicated to researching and promoting organicgardening, farming and food.
www.gardenorganic.org.uk