Phacelia Siderata: When To Sow In Spring, Remove And Bury, Reviews

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Phacelia siderata: why, when and how to sow

About 10-15 years ago, we did not even know the words of such a thing - siderates, and now many people confidently use them. These plants have common properties, but each in its own way remains unique. Phacelia has become one of the most popular. What is it good for? How to use it for the benefit of your site?

Content

• 1 Phacelia on your site, what does it give

  1.1 Video: about the benefits of phacelia

• 2 Instructions for planting and using phacelia

  • 2.1 Video: sowing phacelia
  • 2.2 Video: how to embed phacelia in the soil
• 3 Reviews of phacelia as a siderat

Phacelia on your site, what does it give

This green manure immediately on a level above the others puts the fact that it belongs to the borage family. Phacelia is not a relative of pumpkin, nightshade, cabbage, legumes, onions. This means that you can alternate it with any vegetable crop, without being puzzled by questions about the best predecessors.

What are the benefits of phacelia:

• It oppresses the weeds by the fact that it grows lush bushes, tightly joining together and creating a thick shadow. Weeds from seeds will not break through the thickness of the green manure and die. But perennials (runny, wheatgrass, carrots) cannot be stopped.
• It deacidifies the soil, which is good for vegetables that need a neutral reaction, and bad for weeds that prefer an acidic environment, including perennial ones, one of which is annoying wood lice.
• It improves the structure of the soil, makes even clay soil loose, and increases air exchange in it due to the fibrous and dense root system. Thin roots penetrate the upper layers of the soil, laying channels-capillaries through which air and water pass.
• Enriches the earth with nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. After cutting and embedding in the soil, the tender and soft leaves attract bacteria and earthworms, which process green manure into the most useful fertilizer - humus.
• It fights pests, wireworms and nematodes do not want to live in the neighborhood. During flowering, it attracts predatory insects (entomophages) to the site that feed on the larvae of the moth, leafworm, apple blossom beetle, etc.
• It releases phytoncides into the air and soil, which are detrimental to the fungi of late blight, root rot, Fusarium, etc.
• It is an excellent honey plant, attracts bees to the site, which will not refuse to work at the same time on your apple trees, pears, cherries, currant and gooseberry bushes.

Video: about the benefits of phacelia

Mustard competes with phacelia in popularity among gardeners. I sow both siderates on my site. They are equally cold-resistant, quickly decay after being embedded in the ground. But in early spring, when I need to have time to grow green manure before planting potatoes, I always choose mustard. Because it rises literally in 2-3 days, and the phacelia can sit in the ground for a week. In spring, this is an unaffordable luxury. In addition, I trust mustard more as a phytosanitary. After all, we know from childhood how well she treats colds, killing viruses and microbes. It works the same way on the ground. However, mustard has a big disadvantage - it attracts cruciferous flea beetles; you cannot sow before and after cabbage. Therefore, I have mustard only on the potato site, in spring and autumn it fights against late blight and wireworms, and phacelia reigns in the rest of the territory. I tried to grow lupine, oats, rapeseed, vetch, rye, clover, but they did not make it to the list of favorites, like mustard and phacelia.

Phacelia is not only useful, but also beautiful

Instructions for planting and using phacelia

Phacelia begins to be sown immediately after the snow melts (still on wet ground) and until late autumn, it germinates at +3 ° C, withstands frosts down to -8 ° C

1. Dig up the earth, or at least loosen the top 5 cm.
2. Sow randomly or make grooves up to 2 cm deep, cut parallel with a distance of 20-25 cm from each other. The seeding depth is 1–2 cm. Seed consumption is 200 g per one hundred square meters.
3. If the soil is dry, water it, otherwise the seedlings will have to wait not 5-7, but 10-14 days.

Video: sowing phacelia

Functions performed by the phacelia, use cases:

• Predecessor:

  • Sow in areas planned for planting seedlings.
  • When the time comes, make holes between the phacelia bushes and plant them. Already grown green manure will protect still weak cultivated plants from heat, wind and temperature extremes.
  • Once the plants are in place and grow, cut off the phacelia and lay them as mulch.

• Sealant:

  • Sow in the aisles of the potatoes after hilling.
  • At the beginning of flowering, cut and leave in place to rot in the form of mulch.

• Intermediate or Subsequent Culture:

  • Sow immediately after harvesting any vegetable.
  • At the beginning of flowering, mow and embed it in the soil, digging or loosening to a depth of 5–10 cm and filling the stems. Before this, it is advisable to chop the siderat with a shovel, but the tender stems and delicate leaves that are completely sealed will quickly rot.
  • If 3-4 weeks are left before the autumn frost, sow again.

• For snow retention and spring mulching:

  • Leave the last fall sowing unmown for the winter. Snow will be packed between the stems, the earth will be under a dense blanket.
  • In the spring, after the snow melts, you will see that the soil is covered with mulch, it will remain wet for a long time, will not dry out or crack. If you need, on the contrary, so that the earth dries out and warms up faster, then the mulch must be raked up and taken to the compost.
• The main crop for the enrichment of scarce soils. Grow from early spring to late fall in several waves, mowing and sealing early in flowering - about 4 weeks after germination. During the season, even in Siberia, you can manage to grow and mow 2-3 crops.

Video: how to embed phacelia in the soil

If the land is poor, contains little humus, which is easily identified by the weeds - their stems are thin, and the leaves are small and pale green, then the phacelia will grow the same. In these areas, sowing green manure alone will not improve the situation. It is necessary to apply mineral fertilizers or humus, including under phacelia, or grow it in this place all season. The first cut will be poor, but you will embed it in the topsoil, the next one will grow on top of the rotting previous one. And so over and over again the earth will be enriched with humus.

Reviews of phacelia as a siderat

Phacelia is a universal green manure that can precede any culture. It does not like pests, has a detrimental effect on fungi, suppresses annual weeds and creates unfavorable conditions for the growth of some perennials. The plant can be sown from early spring until frost to heal the soil, enrich it with humus, and mulch.