At the modern agricultural market, quite a lot of various fertilizers are presented, but almost all of them are created on the basis of chemical compounds, which are far from always completely harmless to the human body. A safer alternative can be a good alternative. green manure plantsthat have no less positive effect on the composition of the soil, enriching it with all the necessary components. What kind of "green helpers" are, how and when to plant them on your plot - you will learn from this article.
What are they needed for
As just mentioned, sideratami called fertilizer plants that are grown in order to restore the composition of the soil after the previous growing season.
They are able to saturate the soil with nitrogen and trace elements necessary for normal growth and development of crops planted on the site. 
The main feature of siderates is the rapid development of the green part, which is used for embedding into the ground or covering its upper layer.
By rotting, the roots of these plants create an excellent environment for the future growth of new crops, and the riot of the aerial part additionally mutes the development of weeds, which also cannot be noted as a positive point of their use.
Did you know? Benjamin Franklin proved the benefit of one of the modern types of fertilizers - hydrated lime, which in 1748 demonstrated its effectiveness in practice: at first there was only a huge inscription on an empty field near Philadelphia: "This field was lime", and after the emergence of shoots everyone noticed that there is more green vegetation in the places where the letters are written on the ground than in other areas.
After the root system dies off, the soil in the place of its vital activity is characterized by increased looseness, water and air permeability, not to mention the supply of nitrogen and other components useful for "domestic" plants.
Depending on the type of the cultivated crop, the most suitable for it green manures are selected, and there are a lot of them.
Main types
Today, more than 400 different species are suitable for the role of green plants, and annuals and perennials, especially of the Bean family, are equally successfully used (it is noted that they are the best to cope with scaring off pests and preventing the development of fungal diseases of cultivated plants).
In addition, many farmers believe that beans, peas, soybeans, sainfoin, rank and other members of this family better feed the earth with nitrogen and can even become a full-fledged replacement for standard compost and manure. 
Learn how to make compost with your own hands and in garbage bags.
There are also some other types of siderats:
- grass varieties (represented by wheat, green barley, rye, oats, Italian millet, fescue, sorghum) - are able to prevent soil erosion, bind trace elements and structure the soil, fluffing up even the heaviest substrates. These plants are equally sown both in spring and in autumn, because thanks to good frost resistance by the time of severe frosts they already have time to grow good tops;
- cruciferous plants (white mustard, radish, canola, colza are most common) - early siderats planted with the arrival of spring before planting the main crop. The root system of these plants identifies special substances that easily transform phosphates and potassium salts that are difficult to digest into good nutrition for vegetable crops. At the same time, phytoncides that are present in their composition disinfect the top layer of soil, saving it from pests and pathogens of various diseases;
Important! Sidedis from the Cruciferous family cannot be planted in front of cultivated plants from the same family: cabbage, lettuce, radish, radish.
- hydrophilic (most often planted phacelia) and hard-to-color (sunflower) - prevent the occurrence or development of soil erosion, attract pollinators to the site and help get rid of nematodes. In addition to actively developing the root system, these siderats are able to quickly throw out the massive aboveground part. Can be used on all types of soil.
Separately, it is worth noting the possibility of landing buckwheat, because it perfectly protects the earth from the reproduction of pathogenic organisms and can resist root rot.When they put green manure
Planting siderats in the garden can be performed at any time of the year: before planting the main cultivated plant or after it has been harvested. The only thing you should pay attention to is the type of green fertilizer that is most suitable for a particular season.
In the spring
Among the earliest siderats, first of all, it is necessary to select mustard and phacelia, since both plants have good resistance to possible night frosts and quickly germinate with stable positive indicators.
With the arrival of spring, many farmers sow spring rape, rape, and vetch, which is particularly good at playing the role of the precursor for peppers and tomatoes.
Read more about what siderata fit tomatoes for higher yields.
In the sowing of sideratov in the spring period has its own features:
- You can simply dig up the soil, simultaneously planting useful plants in its thickness and planting on top the main crop, for which a particular plot is intended;
- you can cut the stems slightly below the ground line using a flat cutter, and then plant a seedling of a permanent crop and mulch the cultivated area with a cut green mass (gradually turning it, they will become an excellent fertilizer);
Important! When used for cutting flat cutters, phacelia will no longer grow, but the mustard will resume its development.
- and the most difficult option is to make holes in the area with growing sideratam and plant vegetable seedlings in them, allowing them to grow in such conditions over the next 2-3 weeks. At the end of this time, at a distance of 5 cm from the ground surface, the green mass of siderates is cut off and laid out on the surface, repeating this process until the time comes for harvesting the culture itself.
What sideraty sow spring
Each gardener chooses the most suitable planting option for himself, but the main thing is to follow the green mass of selected green manures, which in some cases grow much faster than the main crop and can obscure it.
Of course, to get a good harvest this should not be allowed.
Summer
Summer planting is an excellent way to improve the condition of the soil and restore its structure in that part of the garden, which is not planned to be used this year.
With the arrival of spring, green manure plants, characterized by the ability to grow after pruning, are planted in this place, and then they simply cut them off throughout the summer, trying to keep up before the buds begin to form.
In young shoots contain the most nutrients, and the process of rotting occurs much faster. The sloped aerial part can be safely left on the ground surface.
If you decide with the help of sideratov to cope with blight on your site, then it is better to plant these plants in late spring or early summer. For this purpose, phacelia and rye, planted between the rows of tomatoes, are ideal. 
As they grow, they are pruned and re-planted, continuing this process until the very harvest of the crop.
At the end of the summer period, so that the soil does not stand idle after harvesting potatoes or other vegetables, it is possible to sow rye, oats, mustard and phacelia together.
Read more about how to use phacelia as a siderata, how to grow phacelia in the country, as well as what is useful phacelia honey.
Oats are usually sown in the aisle in the process of weeding the vegetable, and mustard or rye seeds are simply scattered before direct harvesting of root crops. During weeding and digging, the seeds are simultaneously introduced into the substrate.
In the autumn
In most cases, in the autumn, rye and mustard are sown, and the timing of their planting will be almost the same.
Seed material is placed in the ground after harvesting vegetables and left until the winter (for example, mustard hides perfectly under the snow cover, and with the arrival of heat, it will only be necessary to cut off its aerial part and plant the previously planned main crop on top). 
As for rye, it will have to be removed from the site even before stable cold, before it goes to the ears (just chop over the tillering knot located near the ground surface). The cleaned part of the ground can be left on the site as a compost or carried out
If you are sure that there are still about 40-45 days before the arrival of resistant frosts, you can plant more thermophilic siderants on the site: spring rye, phacelia or oil-bearing radish (especially good for acidic soil or as a predecessor to cucumbers).
Terms and rules of "plowing" green fertilizer
The cut off part of the green manure plants is usually simply left on the surface of the vegetable garden on which it grew, but there is another option - embedding the “waste” in the ground, which allows to maximize the quality of the soil.
By fuming in it, the tops should increase its water-holding capacity and water permeability, due to which the important processes are activated at the microbiological level.
The process of "plowing" or instillation of siderats is carried out 1-2 weeks before the main crop is planted, and you should definitely have time to do this before the budding begins, which we mentioned earlier. 
True, there are also opponents of the “burial” of siderats, who argue their opinion by destroying microorganisms important for plants during the digging process.
To cut the tops of fertilizer plants are not dried, it is better to just cover the tops with a layer of mulch. Plant residues will gradually turn into compost and begin to release nitrogen. The root system remaining in the substrate, under the influence of worms and some other land residents, will begin to decompose, acquiring all the properties of high-grade humus.
Important! Plowing of winter green manures is considered especially harmful, since as a result approximately 80% of the beneficial effect of these plants disappears.
To put it simply, in order not to complicate the task and not to take useful microelements from the soil, simply leave the cut down siderats in the garden, and with the arrival of spring they will not become so.
Annuals or Perennial: Which is Better
Many gardeners prefer it to perennial species, which is quite logical explanation: they do not need to be sown every year and they give more of the green part. However, there are some negative aspects of their use, exposing the annual options in a more favorable light.
So, in some cases, before planting the main crop, it will be necessary to perform additional cleaning, especially since the bed can be under the green shelter for more than two years (in this case, the soil in the selected area will improve all this time). 
Also an important task in the cultivation of perennial green manure varieties is to limit their possibility of seeding, otherwise they may well turn into an uncontrolled weed grass. Therefore, for areas under minor control, it is better to choose one-year "useful" plants.
We recommend you learn how to remove weeds from the garden, which herbicides will help get rid of them, what tool to choose to remove weeds from the roots and what lawn grass will help to destroy the weeds.
What types of sideratov choose
As you know, not all siderats will be equally useful for a particular culture, therefore, before choosing such a “green assistant”, it is important to study the most appropriate options in each individual case.
For potatoes
Potatoes are probably the first plant to which there is always a place in any garden. However, in order to get a good harvest of this representative of the Paslenov family, it is very important to provide him with a nutritious place of growth, without remaining root rot, pathogens of scab or other characteristic ailments.
For this purpose, after stripping and removal of all plant residues, the garden is often sown with the mentioned sideratami, choosing in this case mustard (white or Sarepta variety will suit), peas, winter rye, vetch, oats. 
Planting can be carried out both jointly and in stripes, or generally one crop per bed, immediately after harvesting potatoes. By the onset of steady cold, all these siderats should already have time to build up a good green mass, with which they will go under the snow.
Upon the arrival of the new season, the quality and quantity of the potato crop will improve significantly, and the weeds, pests or pathogens of various diseases will no longer disturb you.
Important! There is simply no universal culture for planting and crop rotation, so the choice will have to be based on the individual requirements of each plant, the type of soil, and the usual weather conditions for a particular area.
For tomatoes
To fertilize the soil under tomatoes, spring siderats are usually used, especially oilseed radish, phacelia, and mustard. Before sowing each of the plants, the plot is free from weeds and loosened a little, after which it will be possible to simply scatter the seeds of useful plants in bulk, based on the calculation of 200-350 g per 1 hundred square meters.
For greater convenience of processing the site, you can mix the seeds with sand in a 1: 1 ratio. 
When the selected siderats acquire the desired green mass, it will need to be cut (necessarily before flowering) and plowed into the soil. If you chose phacelia for growing, then seedlings of tomatoes can be planted directly in its thickets, after arranging suitable holes.
This green plant is reputed to be a disinfector because it can disinfect the soil in a unique way, thereby protecting the plant from pests. Like other varieties, at the beginning of flowering, the above-ground part of it is cut and mulched by it under the planting of tomatoes.
It is not necessary to plant tomatoes after eggplants, peppers and other nightshade. Good predecessors for tomatoes are cauliflower and early white cabbage, pumpkin and legumes, root crops and onions are acceptable.
For cucumbers
For fertilizer cucumbers, “green helpers” are used in early spring, as soon as snow leaves the soil (if this process is delayed, then there is a chance not to have time before planting the crop).
In this case, cold-resistant variations of siderats can be used as good predecessors: oil-bearing radish, mustard, phacelia and spring rape, and for the rapid germination of each of them, planting is covered with a film before the appearance of sprouts. 
As soon as the above-ground part reaches 10-15 cm in height, and stable weather is established on the street, cucumbers themselves can be sown in the holes between the mustard or phacelia, sprinkling them with soil and covering them with plastic bottles.
As long as the crop plants do not get stronger, the green manure will serve them as a good protection from gusts of wind and the scorching sun.
It will be useful for you to know which siderats are suitable for cucumbers.
It is possible to sow "fertilizer" for cucumbers at the end of summer or even at the beginning of autumn, immediately after harvesting the previous crop (gardeners usually choose the period from the end of August to the beginning of September).
In this case, excellent options for the role of siderats will be varieties that can quickly build up green mass: for example, the already mentioned oil-bearing radish and white mustard. 
In addition to increasing the fertile potential of the soil, they also prevent the development of fungal infections and serve as excellent prevention against popular pests: wireworms, slugs and others.
It is absolutely not necessary to remove the plants for the winter: all the unfertilized remains can be scooped up with the arrival of spring (the soil under them will necessarily be loose and fertile).
Did you know? 95% cucumber - water. Because of this, it contains only 150 kcal per 1 kg, which makes these fruits an excellent dietary product.
For cabbage
The most suitable sideratam in this case will be alfalfa, sweet clover, peas, lupine, phacelia, lentils, fodder beans, vetch. At the same time, the landing of rapeseed, white mustard, oil radish and rye should be especially avoided.
The latter is not suitable not only for the role of the precursor, but also for the cabbage neighbor, since it dries the substrate and decomposes in the soil longer than legumes.
For a good harvest of cabbage in the soil must be a large amount of nitrogen, otherwise it will not be possible to achieve a build-up of sufficient leaf apparatus. 
If desired, you can mix suitable siderats among themselves, sowing ready-made mixtures of their seeds on the site. The classic option is considered to be a vico-oatmeal mixture, but the sweet clover, phacelia, bruise (taken in a ratio of 2: 1: 1) are not bad combined with each other.
Посев растений-удобрений можно проводить не только перед высадкой капусты, но и после ее уборки, ведь все представители Капустных обедняют почву, и ей требуется восстановление запасов питательных веществ.
Для клубники
For fertilizer strawberries siderata can be sown throughout the season. In this case, the ideal options will be the annual lupine, phacelia, oats and mustard, and if it is possible, it is desirable to allocate a vegetable garden for them for at least a year.
During this time, it will grow several generations of useful plants: starting from the summer and continuing the whole next season next year.
The most noticeable results are given by the alternation of these types of green manure or the use of mixtures of their seeds, which, as in other cases, will make it possible to most effectively clean the garden from weeds, cope with pests and pathogens, while enriching the soil with nitrogen.
Growing strawberries in sideratah
After the implementation of preventive measures, at the end of the summer it will be possible to arrange a new bed of strawberries or strawberries.
For pepper
Fertilizer for pepper in the form of green manure plants is used mainly in early spring (after the snow melted), although a variant of underwinter sowing seed mixtures is also possible. Good options in this case are lupine, peas, watercress, alfalfa, vetch and phacelia, the seeding of which is no different from previous situations.
Pepper can also be planted in the holes between plants or immediately after cutting the green tops. Of course, with the presence of such predecessors, the soil is gathered nutrients, a little loosened and disinfected, so that the pepper can not be afraid of pests and diseases.
For eggplant
For eggplants, beans, soybeans, lentils, peas, and seradella are considered good predecessors, although alfalfa, srechechnik, sweet clover, vetch, clover, and lupine are often used as siderats.
Any of the plants can be sown in early spring and mow its above-ground part 2-3 weeks before the intended planting of the eggplants themselves.
Growing peppers and eggplants in green manure
The green part, as always, can serve either as mulch (it will protect young cultivated plants from the scorching sun and wind) or as fertilizer if you put it into the ground.
Did you know? Regular consumption of dishes with eggplant can protect the human brain from free radicals. In this vegetable there is a strong antioxidant, nionin, which protects the lipids of the membranes from negative effects, thereby preventing the development of oncological processes in such an important organ.
Siderates: the main mistakes of gardeners
Green manure plants are, in fact, weeds, which can not only saturate the soil with nutrients and increase the yield of the cultivated crop, but also bring many problems to the gardener. 
Most often the latter happens as a result of the following possible errors:
- plowing "green helpers" in order to restore the soil (it is enough to cut off the above-ground part of seeded green manure without affecting the root system of the plants);
- untimely harvesting of plant remains of siderats from the garden leads to the development of putrefactive processes in the soil, which threatens with diseases of cultivated plants planted in the future;
- plowing winter crops into the ground is a direct path to the loss of all useful properties by plants;
- planting siderats in rows does not contribute to the rapid inhibition of other weeds that grow on nutrient soil with double strength;
- planting crops from one family often causes the development of viral lesions, so it is worthwhile to study in advance the options for all possible precursors for a particular culture.
Siderata plants will only justify your hopes when you learn how to properly handle them, otherwise you should not be surprised at the appearance of additional problems in the garden.
