2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Today, natural methods of increasing soil fertility and pest control of vegetable crops without the use of toxic chemicals are gaining more and more popularity among gardeners. Gardeners are convinced by their own experience of the effectiveness of such methods, and scientists, conducting all kinds of research and experiments, confirm the effectiveness of such methods of improving the soil and growing decent and high-quality crops without the use of chemistry
Planting a ground cover crop
To prepare the soil for planting tomatoes, there are at least two cold-loving crops that can act as a green fertilizer that will fill the soil with organic and nutrients, facilitate soil cultivation and even destroy harmful insects that are ready to start destroying the garden crop with the first rays of spring.
In addition, ground cover plants will protect the upper soil layer from being washed out by autumn rains or blown away by winter drifts. Plant roots create many tiny spaces in the soil for water and air, making the soil porous and capable of storing nutrients.
That is why it is important to sow future beds under tomatoes with similar plants a month before the onset of stable cold weather, so that they have time to strengthen and grow at least 12 cm in height until the frosts stop their growth. In the spring they will continue to grow and by the time the tomato is planted, it should begin to bloom. During flowering, preventing the formation of seeds, they are pruned and turned into mulch.
The worldwide tomato lovers community recommends
Tomato lovers have united in the World Tomato Society, in which people share their experience of growing tomatoes, methods of preserving the harvest, recipes for canning and preparing dishes from tomatoes.
Of the many cover crops used in horticulture and horticulture, the Community recommends only two when it comes to growing tomatoes:
1. Hairy vetch (lat. Vicia villosa), we call this plant Shaggy Peas {belongs to the genus Vic (lat. Vicia) from the legume family (lat. Fabaceae)}.
2. Sarepta mustard or Sarepta cabbage (lat. Brassica juncea), which we also call gray mustard, or Russian mustard. {refers to the genus Cabbage (lat. Brassica) from the family of the same name Cabbage (lat. Brassicaceae)}.
Shaggy vetch or shaggy peas
This unpretentious and hardy climbing herb is found everywhere, often turning into a weed growing in fields with cultivated grains. The annual plant has an amazing ability to add fertility to the soil, and can be used as mulch.
Scientific research has revealed a number of advantages of the Shaggy Pea:
* The plant creates a partnership with bacteria that can fix nitrogen from the air, enriching the soil with it.
* Serves the utilization of nutrients.
* Reduces soil erosion, prevents soil compaction.
* Adds organic matter to the soil.
* When used as a mulch, it reduces the number of weeds, helps to retain moisture in the soil, suppresses some pathogenic microbes and pests, acts as a fertilizer with a gradual release of nutrients.
Sarepta mustard or Sarepta cabbage
Sarepta mustard is another versatile groundcover that benefits tomatoes:
* The plant repels such annoying and gluttonous pests as root nematodes and wireworms, which have recently flooded our gardens.
* Suppresses the effect of pathogenic fungi.
* Reduces the number of weeds.
* In addition, Mustard flowers feed the hardworking bees and also complement winter salads along with the fresh leaves of the plant.
True, Mustard is inferior in frost resistance to Vika shaggy, and therefore requires a protective snow cover in cold winters. After sowing the seeds, the soil moisture should be maintained until the emergence of seedlings, which may appear after 2-7 days. Then the watering is reduced. Mustard should also not be allowed to seed. It is advisable to prune the bushes at the soil level and embed the grass in the soil a couple of months before planting the tomatoes.
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