Which and when for green manure

[noviceveggrower]

Hi,
I am wanting to put green manure down. I have read that you need to put certain ones for growing certain crops.
I am wanting to put some down and grown potatoes and beans.
I haven't grown green manure before so I was wondering which ones to grow and when is the best time to plant them?
Thanks

[Bren In Pots]

Have a read at this older thread :- http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ure_79504.html

plus the excellent link that Two Sheds posted.

[noviceveggrower]

Thanks. Did put in a search for it but couldn't find anything.

[KevinM67]

Could you still not plant edible stuff for now (salad leaves, radishes, etc.) - and then plant the green manure stuff to cover the winter months.

[Two_Sheds]

no, overwintering green manures need to be sown pretty sharpish, because days are shortening now and plant growth is going to be slowing down

[KevinM67]

no, overwintering green manures need to be sown pretty sharpish, because days are shortening now and plant growth is going to be slowing down

With a Forage Rye you can plant in Sept/Oct for over-wintering - plus it doesn't mess with your crop rotation.

[Two_Sheds]

Sure you can plant (sow) in October, but it ain't going to grow enough to provide winter ground cover. It will start growing in spring, which is probably when you want to be removing it for new crops

[lottie dolly]

Just had me a thought,if we were to sow our spare/nearly out of date seeds,then when grown,cover them up,surly that would put some goodness back in the ground,even things like runners and peas,just let them roam the ground,

[Noosner]

My plot is inaccessible so difficult to barrow horse muck to. So I'm going to try green manures this year, and have ordered 3 different ones from the green manure co. After reading what twosheds said I'm hoping just to chop these down when they're ready and leave them for the worms to work with.

I'm going for mustard on the potato beds, field beans on the brassica bed and phacelia on the broad bean bed. I'm hoping it'll be a success because it will so much easier than lugging half a tonne of horse poo (and considerably cheaper).

[Two_Sheds]

Phacelia isn't hardy all over the UK, frost will kill it. Mustard too probably, so save those for a spring/summer sowing.

I don't bother following a strict crop rotation: my GMs are all self-sowing now, I just let them come up where they want to.

You could also make leafmould: I can get a black sack of autumn leaves on my bike, or 3 in the car. You can collect it in bendy buckets or carrier bags, then leave to rot down in black sacks on the plot. The full sacks are good for holding down a cardboard mulch

[Noosner]

Phacelia isn't hardy all over the UK, frost will kill it. Mustard too probably, so save those for a spring/summer sowing.

I don't bother following a strict crop rotation: my GMs are all self-sowing now, I just let them come up where they want to.

You could also make leafmould: I can get a black sack of autumn leaves on my bike, or 3 in the car. You can collect it in bendy buckets or carrier bags, then leave to rot down in black sacks on the plot. The full sacks are good for holding down a cardboard mulch

Thanks for that advice, 2Sheds, much appreciated. I'll just go for the field beans gm this month then and use the others later.

When you say you let them come up wherever they want, does that include as an undercrop? I would love to find something that would live under my raspberry canes but am unsure if this can be done because of their shallow roots.

Silly question, but do you mean use the leaves as ballast while still in their sacks? I have got a lot of cardboard on the plot and I was going to weigh it down with horse muck - until I decided not to use it this year! What else could usefully go atop the cardboard? Is it just a question of holding it there until it rots down? I topped cardboard with ordinary soil this year and it seemed to work pretty well.

[Two_Sheds]

When you say you let them come up wherever they want, does that include as an undercrop? I would love to find something that would live under my raspberry canes

I have phacelia under the raspberries at the moment on one side of the row, and wet newspapers weighed down with pulled weeds and comfrey leaves on their other side

What else could usefully go atop the cardboard?

I tend to top my newspaper mulch with grass clippings, pulled weeds, chopped up green manures, because that's what I have most of

If you like horse/cow/sheep muck, use that

[Noosner]

I have phacelia under the raspberries at the moment on one side of the row, and wet newspapers weighed down with pulled weeds and comfrey leaves on their other side

I tend to top my newspaper mulch with grass clippings, pulled weeds, chopped up green manures, because that's what I have most of

If you like horse/cow/sheep muck, use that

Great, thanks, TwoSheds!