Mustard is often grown as a cover crop to provide fertilization. Find out below why mustard makes an excellent green manure and how you can use mustard yourself as a cover crop.
Why is mustard suitable for green manure in the garden?
Mustard as green manure loosens the soil, prevents siltation and nutrient leaching, releases humus into the soil and suppresses weeds. Cut in autumn before flowering and leave as mulch or dig under with the leaves.
Why green manure?
Green manure is often carried out on fallow areas to enrich the soil with nutrients, as well as to prevent siltation and leaching of nutrients from the soil.
What does mustard do as a green manure?
- The deep roots of mustard plants loosen the soil.
- The dense plant cover prevents the soil from becoming muddy and nutrients from being washed out.
- After cutting off the mustard plants, they release the nutrients they absorb back into the soil as humus.
- The mustard plants prevent weeds from overgrowing the empty beds.
How is mustard used as a foundation?
Mustard can be planted as a green manure in practically any frost-free season. As I said, it is often planted as a catch crop, for example after you have harvested early vegetables such as lettuce. Sow the mustard seeds as described here. If you sow late in the year, you can plant the plants closer than 20cm. Water and care for your mustard like any other garden herb. You can also occasionally harvest a few of the aromatic leaves and use them in a salad. In autumn, at the latest during the flowering period, before the seeds develop, cut the mustard plants down to the ground. Leave the leaves and flowers in place so they can continue to protect the soil and also provide nutrients.
Green manure without effort
Alternatively, you can simply leave the mustard in the fall. The leaves freeze and can easily be buried in the spring. However, in this case you run the risk of the mustard seeding itself. Therefore, it is better to harvest the seeds in autumn.
When should mustard not be used as green manure?
Since mustard is a cruciferous vegetable, the usual crop rotation must be observed. Cruciferous vegetables can only be planted in the same location every four years. Therefore, mustard must not be used as green manure in locations where brassicas, radishes, radishes or other cruciferous plants have grown in the last three years.
Tip
You can also plant just one row of mustard between your garden vegetables and use them as green manure.