Taiji
Greener Thumb
Posts: 921
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 3:19 am
Location: Gardening in western U.P. of MI. 46+ N. lat. elev 1540. zone 3; state bird: mosquito

Best winter cover crop?

Hello. I was wondering if anyone would know what would be the best cover crop for planting in the garden at this time of year. (last and first frost dates are about May 15 and Nov. 1) I have been planting annual ryegrass in the fall and digging it under into my raised beds in the spring, but recently was told that a crop of clover will fix nitrogen better. But, don't know if clover will stay green over the winter and pick up again in the spring as rye does?

Anyone else do this and have any thoughts? In my area I have noticed a permanent pasture mix for sale, I wondered if that would work. It has about 6 or 8 different grasses in it along with a small percentage of clover. Maybe I haven't been getting the best result that I could have with using annual ryegrass, don't know.
Thanks in advance! My home computer is no more, so I may not be on for a while.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

The legumes are the nitrogen fixers but buckwheat and annual ryegrass still provide biomass. If you are going to use a legume for nitrogen fixing, you need to have the micorrhyzzae present to infect the roots. If you don't have enough naturally then the seeds have to be treated with an inoculant.

The legumes for nitrogen fixing are crimsom clover, cowpeas, sunhemp, and hairy vetch. Crimson clover and vetch may be choices for winter. Other legumes would work like Dutch white clover, field pea, and fava beans, but the former are the ones that usually produce the most root nodules. The thing about bacteria and plants in general, they slow their growth in the cold so it takes longer.

It may not be a concern as much for you, but most of these nitrogen fixers are fast growers. The maximum fixation occurs when it starts to flower and that is the point where they need to be tilled in. Some of them like the buckwheat and clover can become weedy if left to go to seed.



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