You mentioned using a tarp in the no-till gardens. I am somewhat familiar with that. I have a question about that. I know it is a very effective way to kill weed seeds but does it also kill soil microbes? I have to grow Sunflowers in at least one area this year! I looks beautiful and I love seeing the bees and other pollinators. Thanks for another great video!
Do you broadcast seed your cover crops or plant with a seeder? I have one plot thats nearly 1000 sqft and want to do better with cover cropping this year. Thank you!
I live up in Southern New England. I have planted Winter Rye for years and then tried Winter Wheat for a cover crop. I was thinking about trying something different and Crimson Clover. Questions are......how much should I use in a 4,500 square foot garden and is it worth using up here. Last year I mulched all of my leaves from one big Sugar Maple into my garden and the garden was full tilt until the deers raided it to nothing. 130 tomato plants and nothing for tomatoes. lol I guess I spent to much time protecting my Sunflowers.
I'm going to prepare a new plot this fall for spring planting. What type of cover crop should I plant now? this is a virgin field that had nothing but weeds that I mow I summer. Never been tilled up. Probably needs weed suppression and nitrogen fixation. Should I till it before I plant the cool season cover crop?
Travis, when you tarp the ironclay peas and kill if them off, could you just wait a few weeks and then just plant in amongst them and take full benefit of the plants breaking down as they decay and the roots where they have fixed the nitrogen?
@@gardeningwithhoss thank you i always worry about grasses as certain species like to spread and become invasive i appreciate the info and love your channel an all it does😃
@@gardeningwithhoss Thanks! The mowed area showed the row planting and it looked like the mower was chopping only one row at a time. Less mass to bog down the engine.
This may have been mentioned in the video but I was planning on buying some Sudangrass. After chopping it down x amount of times and you're now ready to start planting something in its place, do you just chop it, till it into the soil, and then plan the vegetable? Or do you rake it up after tilling it? I'm just wondering if it will start growing again even after tilling it in. Sorry if this has already been talked about
I'm in florida and I basically have sugar sand for soil. Which cover crop would be best to bring up sandy loam? Would a nitrogen fixer be best? Which would grow best in the heat and sand?
We have fairly sandy soil as well. They'll all do great. The sorghum sudangrass really helps add organic matter to sandy soils when repeatedly mowed like we're doing.
Thanks for the info! I have a heavy clay soil that I hope to amend over time. I put in a purchase for fall cover of tillage radish and just did some crimson clover. Can I mix those in a single plot? What are your other recommendations for fall cover crops for hard soil? We have a small tractor with a bush hog, tiller, and mower.
When it starts flowering, you usually have a couple weeks before it will produce viable seeds. So we just make sure we cut it and incorporate it during that period.
Hey Travis. Can you talk about cover crops in raised beds? I grow in 4' by 8' beds and tilling wont really work. Thank you much.
You don't have to till. On a small scale, you can simply turn the soil with a digging fork.
You mentioned using a tarp in the no-till gardens. I am somewhat familiar with that. I have a question about that. I know it is a very effective way to kill weed seeds but does it also kill soil microbes?
I have to grow Sunflowers in at least one area this year! I looks beautiful and I love seeing the bees and other pollinators. Thanks for another great video!
We have not had this issue. When we remove, still can find those worms and if they are living so are the microbes.
Do you broadcast seed your cover crops or plant with a seeder? I have one plot thats nearly 1000 sqft and want to do better with cover cropping this year. Thank you!
We usually just broadcast by hand. But you can certainly do it with a seeder.
Do you moisten the soil before tarp covering to attract worms?
It's not a bad idea to do so.
I am infested with hammerhead worms :( .I try to kill them one at the time with salt .😭.
I live up in Southern New England. I have planted Winter Rye for years and then tried Winter Wheat for a cover crop. I was thinking about trying something different and Crimson Clover. Questions are......how much should I use in a 4,500 square foot garden and is it worth using up here. Last year I mulched all of my leaves from one big Sugar Maple into my garden and the garden was full tilt until the deers raided it to nothing. 130 tomato plants and nothing for tomatoes. lol I guess I spent to much time protecting my Sunflowers.
10 lbs would probably be sufficient. Clover is great!
Triticale is a mix between rye and wheat
I'm going to prepare a new plot this fall for spring planting. What type of cover crop should I plant now? this is a virgin field that had nothing but weeds that I mow I summer. Never been tilled up. Probably needs weed suppression and nitrogen fixation. Should I till it before I plant the cool season cover crop?
Yes, you'll want to cultivate the area so that the cover crop germinates well. Crimson clover is a great one for weed suppression.
Travis, when you tarp the ironclay peas and kill if them off, could you just wait a few weeks and then just plant in amongst them and take full benefit of the plants breaking down as they decay and the roots where they have fixed the nitrogen?
Yes. We're thinking of just adding a thick layer of compost on top and hopefully leave all that root structure in place.
Looks like some deer were bedding in your buckwheat.
Probably cats hunting rats.
Do you only overhead water your cover crops? Or do you use drip tape?
Overhead water to get them going and pretty much let Mother Nature do the rest.
Have u known sorghum sudan grass to spread beyond it's planting site?
Not at all. It confines very well.
@@gardeningwithhoss thank you i always worry about grasses as certain species like to spread and become invasive i appreciate the info and love your channel an all it does😃
Just think of sorghum as corn...very similar plants
Would you have been able to push mow If you had hand seeded?
Maybe. Depends on the height when you terminate.
@@gardeningwithhoss Thanks! The mowed area showed the row planting and it looked like the mower was chopping only one row at a time. Less mass to bog down the engine.
This may have been mentioned in the video but I was planning on buying some Sudangrass. After chopping it down x amount of times and you're now ready to start planting something in its place, do you just chop it, till it into the soil, and then plan the vegetable? Or do you rake it up after tilling it? I'm just wondering if it will start growing again even after tilling it in. Sorry if this has already been talked about
We just mow it as close as we can and till it into the soil when we're ready to plant vegetables there.
I'm in florida and I basically have sugar sand for soil. Which cover crop would be best to bring up sandy loam? Would a nitrogen fixer be best? Which would grow best in the heat and sand?
We have fairly sandy soil as well. They'll all do great. The sorghum sudangrass really helps add organic matter to sandy soils when repeatedly mowed like we're doing.
Why not mix Sudan and sun hemp?
the sunn hemp might shade out the sudan grass
Thanks for the info! I have a heavy clay soil that I hope to amend over time. I put in a purchase for fall cover of tillage radish and just did some crimson clover. Can I mix those in a single plot? What are your other recommendations for fall cover crops for hard soil? We have a small tractor with a bush hog, tiller, and mower.
Yes you could. We did a mix of tillage radish, Austrian winter pea and hairy vetch last fall. Made some excellent soil for spring.
Do y'all save the seed heads on your sunflowers or just till them under?
Just till them under.
So when sorghum-sudan grass goes to seed and you cut it , it does not seed into the garden ?
I think they're catching it before it forms viable seeds.
@@4BWVan ah , thanks.
When it starts flowering, you usually have a couple weeks before it will produce viable seeds. So we just make sure we cut it and incorporate it during that period.
Where do you get your compost and what kind of compost r u using
We get gin trash compost from a local cotton gin. It's really good stuff.
Do you fertilize the buckwheat?
Nope.
How often do you do soil samples?
Usually once or twice a year.