a cover crop until late october?

[tjg911]

1/4 of the garden is devoted to alliums. once the onions are dug (about 2 weeks from today) and the last of the garlic are dug (which will probably be in a week) this area be empty and unused. it seems a waste to let this area sit for 3 months when something could grow that will enrich the soil when rototilled under in late october.

so i want to plant something in this 20' X 15' space that i can rototill in late october. next year this spot will grow broccoli, cabbage and peas. i don't want anything that creates seeds or grows back creating "weeds" i have to pull and dig next year. anything that grows 12" or taller is a problem to cut, it's a fenced garden not an open field using a tractor.

suggestions?

tom

[Redbaron]

Go buy a bag of lentles or field peas from the grocery store and have at it. If you inoculate too it will be a good nitrogen fixing cover and no chances of surviving frost.

[tjg911]

the lentils the grocery store sells that i eat? for some reason i just never thought they would be plantable. what are field peas? remember nothing more than 12" tall.

thanks.

tom

[Redbaron]

Yes they generally grow. Field peas are this: Southern Field Peas I suggested them because they can be planted in the heat, and as a cover it doesn't matter if they reach maturity or not.

[tjg911]

i see black eyed peas in the store the other 2 i never heard of. i could soak a pound and spread them around the allium bed and see what happens. thanks for the tip.

tom

[greentiger87]

Field peas are the same species as black eyed peas, just different cultivars. I've used grocery store black eyed peas with no problems. Green mung beans work too.

Also, buckwheat is a quick (6 week), short, warm weather cover crop that is easy to kill. Can reseed if you wait too long, but it's never been a problem for me. I've used grocery store buckwheat (sold as "whole buckwheat groats") and seed meant for planting, the grocery store buckwheat actually did better.

[Alfredo]

I have to try sowing the lentils from the store! Thanks for posting that tip Redbaron.
~Alfredo

[CapnChkn]

Is there any special inoculant that should be used for different species? I know there are different cultures for different types of clover. Will the inoculants for clovers work for peas, field peas, lentils, or lupins?

[greentiger87]

Unfortunately, no. There are some "crossinoculation groups", meaning species of bacteria that will work with multiple types of legumes. Manufacturers will often package multiple species together to make combined inoculants with a wider host range. The science is constantly being clarified, but here's a simplified current breakdown:

All plants species of the genus Vigna can take the same inoculant (field peas, black eyed peas, mung beans, adzuki beans, yard-long beans). This group also inoculates several other less used plant species, including the genus Crotalaria - which contains sunn hemp.

Plants with the common name "clover" are in many genera, so it's hard to generalize. The true clovers are genus Trifolium. This genus has multiple inoculant subgroups, so you need to be sure the inoculant works with the specific species you are planting.

Field beans (also called broad beans or fava beans) are of the genus Vicia, which also includes the true vetches. They are closely related to the lentils, in the genus Lens and true peas in the genus Pisum. All take the same inoculant.

Most common beans and green beans, genus Phaseolus, take the same inoculant species.

Bur-clovers (Medicago), which includes Alfalfa, and fenugreek (Trigonella) take the same inoculant.

Chickpeas and lupins have their own inoculants.

[tjg911]

i noticed today i have a lot of pea shoots poking out of the ground. i soaked 1 pound of whole peas for 24 or maybe as long as 48 hours. i roughed up the soil and scattered them. a pound soaked swelled to a huge amount and i thought i had 10 times what i needed but i barely had enough to plant the 2 dug garlic and 1 onion beds.

tom

[CapnChkn]

Ha ha! Of course! Thank you Greentiger! I planted 3 varieties of common true pea cultivars this spring and the only one to produce anything was Alaska. I realized they could use an inoculant, but only have access to Crimson Clover and White Clover.

[Byron]

Originally Posted by CapnChkn

Ha ha! Of course! Thank you Greentiger! I planted 3 varieties of common true pea cultivars this spring and the only one to produce anything was Alaska. I realized they could use an inoculant, but only have access to Crimson Clover and White Clover.

I have grown field peas or black eyed peas all of my life and I have never seen them inoculated I don't know that affects thier ability to set nitrogen. I have seen Lupine planted as a cover crop and it was innoculated similar to clover. We bought the innoculant with the Lupine. If you want to plant clover as a winter cover crop plant crimson clover it will die back when the weather gets warm. you can mow it before it sets seed and it won't come back next year. White clover is a perenial and it is harder to get rid of.

[CapnChkn]

I'm sure it all depends on how sterile the soil is to start with. The soil I'm working with was a pile of leaves at the start of winter last year from the Solid Waste facility here in Murfreesboro. I've finally gotten a little response from it after amending and feeding, growing both Clovers you mentioned, and mulching heavily.

White clover does well in between the rows, takes mowing and foot traffic well, and is killed easily enough by 4 or more inches of straw, dried grass clippings, or even wood chips which I don't like...

[FaithHopeLove]

That is the prettiest clover I've ever seen. I don't think clover would grow here in FL very well if at all no dirt here just sand.

[CapnChkn]

Actually with a fair amount of OM, you could probably grow the Crimson (Trifolium Incarnatum), often called Italian, Clover. It's a winter annual, indigenous to Southern Europe, putting down roots in fall, getting established so the frosts wont "heave" the little plants up, and putting out most of it's growth in the early/middle spring where it doesn't have competition for the light and moisture from the grasses.

It's great for bees and fixes gobs of Nitrogen. It only blooms for about a month, but my honeybees never left it alone. It feeds solitary bees, other pollinators, beneficials, Deer, and Turkey. It's often sold here in the south as a cover crop, in the north it's usually planted in early spring when the weather wont drop below 10°F. After blooming it dies and reseeds to start the cycle again in the fall.

I see you're in the Highlands, just south of Ocala. I can't imagine that soil is too sandy. When I was there, it would get around 20°F in the coldest parts of winter. You are well within limits. If you want, FaithHopeLove, you can send me your address and I'll send you one of my 10 gram packages. Around 1200 seeds, it will be enough to seed a plot 4.5 x 4.5 feet (22 square feet.).

http://www.mccc.msu.edu/documents/ma...msonclover.pdf

PM me if you want.