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Location

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Date Posted

Ironton, ohio

My patch laid mostly bare all winter other than being covered with mulched maple leaves. I'm considering tilling and sewing winter rye first of April, growing it until late may first of June. Then till and add final amendments just B4 plant really starts running. Who else spring cover crops? Is there any value in it? My thoughts are it may help with weeds, mud, andto get the soil microbes up and active.

3/12/2022 8:00:34 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Winter rye is too slow. Consider oats, and if it is warm enough buckwheat. Buckwheat is easy to kill and has many benefits

3/12/2022 11:17:13 AM

Syracuse, NY

JUST and ONLY to see to it that it is known about and NOT to deter anyone's free will(y) about it, I remember doing a lot of what I'd call research before selecting my cover crops for last year, Dutch White Clover and Wheat; Barring any explanation, DWC might be a host plant for some diseases of pumpkins (which ANY CC plant will have its share of) and the wheat I bought mainly because it was readily-available and I wanted more than just one cover crop item; For any cover crop item, research it as linked-to below (c'mon, 2 minutes to read it) to see that it is the most beneficial for what you need it FOR and what its DRAWBACKS might be. I have no regrets and look forward to using up, and more of, my CC choices, but will consider others that are available once those are gone.

https://www.permaculturenews.org/2016/01/21/plant-allelopathy/


eg

3/12/2022 3:51:28 PM

Grittyville, WA

Mustard might weaken the weeds pretty well.

3/12/2022 4:33:35 PM

Western PA

I have used rye in the spring in the past. If your soil drains well, go for it. When I used it, it was mainly used to suppress weeds, and it worked well. I push mowed it down around my hoops every week. When hoops were down, I tilled in my amendments and the rye, at 3 intervals as my plants grew.
I would not recommend any spring cover crop if your soil drains poorly,or it will hold more moisture than if you had nothing.

3/13/2022 1:59:27 PM

Kutztown, PA

If your nitrogen levels are already sufficient stay away from legume cover, like winter vetch since they will fix nitrogen and increase your levels. Check your OM levels too. From what I've gathered 5% OM is the sweet spot. You don't want to tilling more OM into your soil if you already have a good OM%.

3/14/2022 10:30:41 AM