What good is winter rye like siderat?

One of the most common problems that reduce yields is soil depletion. An effective method to combat this process is the use of green fertilizers, or siderates. Sowing of sideral crops raises the fertility of the soil, enriching it with humus.

Ciderates are grown up to the stage of active vegetation, and then they are embedded in the soil in a crushed form or are flung entirely to the depth.

Features of winter rye

Winter rye as siderat has become widespread throughout the territory of Russia due to many advantages of its use. One of them is the availability of rye seeds, which is explained by low cost. Rye as siderat is a rather unpretentious plant that grows on most soils, including on acidic and slightly alkaline.

Winter rye has a powerful root system, which by the beginning of winter can reach 150 cm. Such long and strong roots are able to extract from the soil hard-to-reach microelements, to process them into a species assimilated by cultivated plants. Young plants when buried, quickly decompose, enriching the soil with phosphorus and potassium. In addition to the nutritional function, rye as a siderat, thanks to the complex structure of the root system, loosens the soil perfectly, makes it light and saturated with air and moisture, and prevents soil erosion.

For the planting of this siderata, the areas that were released in autumn from plants after harvesting are used, which is an additional advantage for owners of small plots. Rye as siderat well tolerates low temperatures and frosts to -20 °, rapidly increases the green mass, which during the winter turns into a quality organic fertilizer. It is worth noting that many siderial crops require grinding, for example, lupine, mustard, tartar. Rye as siderat is simply embedded in the soil during its spring processing.

Rye against pests and weeds

A useful property is scaring off some insects and preventing diseases of cultivated plants. The number of wireworms decreases, pathogenic microorganisms and harmful bacteria are destroyed . Efficiently growing rye to get rid of the site from nematodes. Landing of winter rye for two years contributes to reducing the number of such weeds, such as wheatgrass, sow, bindweed.

Asked about when to plant rye on siderates, many gardeners arrive rationally and carry out sowing as the site is cleared of plants, starting in September and ending in mid-to-late November. The optimum temperature for germination of grains is +6 ...- 8 °. Even in the absence of snow cover, winter rye remains viable.

In the spring, it is necessary to plow the area on which rye was sown. This should be done immediately, as soon as the snow has melted, to leave enough moisture for the plants, as winter rye is drying up the soil.

A valuable property of rye as a siderata is the possibility of using it to develop new sites.