The issue of increasing yields is acute almost in front of every owner of the garden plot. One way to solve this problem is to use siderates, that is, different crops that improve the composition and structure of the soil, enriching it with nutrients. Cultivation of a phacelia as a fertilizer allows not only to enrich the soil in a garden plot, but also to decorate the site itself, because the phacelia is not only a beautiful siderat, but also a bright ornamental plant. Phacelia plant is unpretentious and frost-resistant, rapidly growing on soils of any type and making even the heaviest, clayey soils light and air-permeable. Phacelia can also be used instead of lawn grass for soil sanitation and attracting bees for pollination of shrubs and trees.
Cultivation of a phacelia
Sowing phacelia can be throughout the season, from early spring to late autumn. Phacelia is frost-resistant, easily withstands frosts to -8 degrees, so it can be sown immediately after the thawing of the soil. The optimal time for sowing faeces is the first half of the summer. For planting, seeds should be mixed with dry sand in the proportion of a packet of seeds per glass of sand, scattered around the site and fenced to a depth of 20-30 mm. Sowing one hundred square meters of land will require about 200 grams of seeds. The most active grow and develop phacelia will be in well-lit, sunny areas, but the penumbra will not hurt it. In the first few weeks after sowing, the phacelia must be weeded and loosened, watering during arid periods when the soil dries up. In a month or one and a half, the phacelia will begin to bloom, producing brightly blue pleasantly smelling flowers, the flowering period of which is 50-60 days.
The use of phacelia as a siderata is due to its useful properties:
- it is practically not affected by pests;
- after decomposition in the ground, the phacelia becomes an excellent, easily digestible fertilizer, saturating the soil with organic matter;
- it grows rapidly, picking up about 300 kg of weight per hundred square meters in a month and a half, which is equivalent to 300 kg of manure;
- For one season, you can get up to four rotations, allowing in a short time to make any site fertile;
- it suppresses weeds and prevents the development of viral and fungal diseases;
- nectar fatselii attracts predatory insects, which destroy pests ( mallet , fruiting, locust, apple blossom, etc.);
- The phacelia changes the acidity of the soil, making it acid neutral;
- fatselyu can be used as a pet food, which on it very quickly gain weight and less sick;
- Phacelia is also an excellent honey plant, attracting bees, which in turn contributes to better pollination and yield of fruit trees.
How correctly to use a phacelia?
- High-quality soil processing. For this, during the summer period, it is required to make at least two crop rotations. After 21 days of flowering, the facial must be mowed, and the site dug up, grabbing
bevelled mass. On the dug out area it is necessary to sow the faeces again, as a result of which a layer of fertile, light soil, oxygen-saturated soil forms to the autumn. To improve the quality of a crop-occupied area, it should be planted with its phacelia in autumn, after harvesting. - Improve yields of cucumbers and tomatoes. To do this, the vegetable crops should be planted on the area sown with the phacelia, making small holes in the grass.
- Increase the yield of potatoes. To do this, after hilling the potatoes should be sowed a phacel in the aisles.