Which green manure is best for potatoes?

Potato

Every gardener strives for a bountiful potato harvest. But not everyone resorts to using commercial fertilizers. However, ordering manure or compost is expensive these days. Planting green manure for potatoes is a good and inexpensive way to make the soil fertile and healthy.

Some green manure crops for potatoes can help control nematodes, wireworms, and late blight. These beneficial plants produce abundant green mass, which is used as fertilizer, releasing all the accumulated nutrients to the potatoes. Planting green manure is one of the environmentally friendly ways to increase potato yields.

What are green manure crops?

Green manure crops are plants grown to enrich the soil with essential micronutrients. They also suppress weed growth. Green manure crops are plants that quickly grow green mass. These plants are then mown and dug into the soil or left on the surface as a protective layer. The root system of the green manure crops rots and serves as an additional source of nutrition for the planted crops. The above-ground part of the green manure crops shields the soil from sunlight, reducing moisture evaporation, and in the shade of these plants, germinated weeds die.

After the green manure crops die off, the remaining root system promotes soil aeration, improves water permeability, and retains moisture. Annual crops, and less commonly perennials, are most often planted as green manure crops.

Green manure for potatoes

Vetch

Commonly known as vetch, this plant is an annual plant capable of rapidly accumulating green mass. Vetch grows well in neutral soils and is planted well before garden crops. As its roots rot in the soil, they enrich the soil with nitrogen and phosphorus. When the plant's green mass is incorporated into the soil, a light, fertile layer of vermicompost forms. Vetch is most often used in combination with rapeseed, mustard, and oats.

Sweet clover

A tall annual or biennial plant with yellow or white flowers that exude a pleasant aroma. Sweet clover is a honey plant, tolerates cold and drought, and is planted as a green manure for two years. Sweet clover is sown after harvest, after which the plant is buried under snow. In the spring, before budding, the green manure is mown down and potatoes or another crop is planted. Sweet clover repels wireworms and nematodes.

The plant thrives in sandy, neutral, and loamy soils. Its strong root system accumulates nitrogen well and quickly penetrates the soil. This feature allows the plant to be cut down and potatoes to be planted without digging, keeping the soil loose. The green part of the sweet clover can be used as additional fertilizer for other crops.

Attention! Green manure crops should be alternated annually on the same plot.

Lupine (yellow, blue, white). This upright plant has a massive, deep root system. Experts believe lupine enriches the soil better than manure. This green manure can restore any type of soil. Lupine is sown in early spring or fall after harvest. The green mass is harvested 7-8 weeks after emergence. Lupine roots penetrate deep into the lower soil layers, extracting trace elements that are difficult for other plants to access.

Phacelia

This beautiful plant with small blue flowers is a honey plant. The greenery can be mown after 45 days. It tolerates cold temperatures and grows in any soil, including salt marshes. The green part can be cut 2-3 times per season. The plant's root system loosens the soil, enriching it with nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Phacelia is planted after potatoes and other vegetables, herbs, and flowers.

White mustard. An annual plant used as a green manure, it easily tolerates temperatures close to 0°C. It grows well in neutral to alkaline soils and is not suitable for planting in marshy areas. Mustard is sown from April to August. 300–350 grams per 100 square meters is sufficient. After cutting the greens, do not plant vegetables for about 10 days, as the substances contained in mustard can inhibit the growth and development of garden crops.

White mustard produces substances that repel many pests. It is also planted to improve soil health, inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria. Where mustard was grown, the soil becomes looser and richer in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Mustard is ideal for planting after potatoes. After the first frost, the green mass will rot, and after winter, it will turn into fertilizer, as will the root system.

Advice! When growing green manure, it's best to prevent it from flowering and producing seeds. Otherwise, you'll lose control and end up weeding instead of benefiting from it.

Oilseed radish

This plant belongs to the cabbage family and has tall stems up to 1.5 meters tall and heavily branched. The flowers are white and lilac. The green part of the radish grows quickly, increasing several times in size within two months. This plant can suppress any weeds and cleanse the fertile soil layer of harmful microorganisms. Oilseed radish is sown from early April to September. 200-300 grams of seeds are sufficient per 100 square meters.

To facilitate seed germination, the soil is loosened. After about thirty days, the radish plot is dug over. The green radish mass can be used as feed for livestock.

Oats

A cereal crop, oats thrive in moist soils and tolerate cold temperatures. Their green foliage contains a lot of potassium and nitrogen, which are essential for potato growth. Their fibrous root system makes heavy soils loose and well-drained. Oats produce better results when planted with vetch. Dense oat crops suppress weeds.

Oats can be planted in the fall or spring. It takes 35-40 days from germination to harvesting, and two weeks for the oats, when incorporated into the soil, to begin releasing micronutrients. Potatoes are best sown in the fall after harvest.

Rye

Winter rye is one of the most suitable green manures for potatoes. It produces a dense green mass that decomposes quickly, enriching the soil with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The plant's robust root system effectively loosens compacted soil, enriching it with moisture and air. Rye releases phosphorus in an easily digestible form for potatoes and other crops. Rye seeds are sown in late August or early September after the potato harvest. In the spring, when the green part reaches 20-30 cm, they are mown and incorporated into the soil. Potatoes can be planted 14 days later.

When and how to sow green manure

Fall sowing of green manure for potatoes is done approximately 1.5 months before frost, allowing the plants time to produce the required volume of green mass. Under the snow, the green manure will rot and serve as good fertilizer for future plantings. Green manure seeds can also be sown in the spring. This is done when the soil has warmed and there are no night frosts. Green manure seeds are most often sown in April. Two weeks before planting the potatoes, the green manure is cut and buried in the soil. Green manure plants easily reproduce by self-seeding, so it is best to remove the plants before they set seed.

After planting potatoes, you can sow mustard between the rows. This plant will repel pests and help conserve moisture. Once the greens reach 20-30 cm, cut the plants and lay them in rows.

Good to know! Three kilograms of green manure replace 1.5 kg of manure.

Basic rules for planting green manure:

about 2 kg of seeds are used per 100 m²;
rare sowing of seeds will not give the desired result;
When choosing green manure, it is necessary to take into account the type of soil.

Planting green manure seeds is similar to seeding a lawn. The area where the green manure is planted should be weed-free, level, shallowly tilled, and free of clods. To ensure even seeding, mix the seeds with equal parts sand or sawdust. Using a garden rake, bury the seeds shallowly into the soil.

Reviews

Tatyana, 52 years old

"Last year, I tried planting green manure in my potato plot for the first time. In early spring, I sowed mustard, lightly burying the seeds in the soil with a hoe. I didn't water it because the soil was damp. A few days later, seedlings emerged, and the potato bed was very different from the others with its bright green color. The mustard grew until April 25th, after which I cut the greens and laid them in the bed.

I planted potatoes on May 10th without digging first. The potatoes in this bed weren't damaged by wireworms in the fall, and the yield was about the same as in regular beds, though the potatoes were perhaps larger. After I dug up all the potatoes, I planted vetch and oats in rows, resulting in two rows of oats and one row of vetch in each bed. I'm looking forward to the new season and wondering what this year's harvest will be like.

Alexander, 40 years old

"After the potatoes, I planted phacelia. The soil in my plot is heavy, but the plants sprouted. A month and a half later, I mowed it all down and laid it back on the plot. In the spring, I tried digging the soil, as usual, with a pitchfork, and I must say it became much lighter. The potatoes planted in the plot after the green manure grew more vigorously and outperformed those planted in regular beds."

Victor, 47 years old

"I tried planting winter rye. In the spring, as soon as the snow melted, the green manure started to flourish. I mowed the green manure a month before planting potatoes. I slightly incorporated the green manure into the soil, but when I planted the potato seeds in May, the rye grass had already rotted. The harvest was good, the potatoes were large, there were practically no small ones, and the soil became looser. Overall, I enjoyed the green manure experiment; now I'll try sowing oilseed radish."