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An important thing that many people miss is that if a cover crop produces fruit and seed (beans in your case) it is no longer a cover crop or green manure, but a crop, which depletes the soil rather than rebuilding it. That is, all the nitrogen a legume has put into the soil during the growth stage, is consumed by the plant during the fruiting stage. So if ...
8
Normally with cover crops you want them to grow as long as possible, where possible is influenced by:
When you plan to plant the actual crop (including some time for breakdown of the cover crop residues.)
Is the cover crop about to set seed and become a weed through self-seeding?
The tops/leaves are also valuable material - you can either incorporate them ...
8
My understanding of nitrogen fixing plants is that nitrogen is retained by the plant for it's own use. Farmers will sow clover and legumes but to make the nitrogen accessible they plow it in. This is called green manure and works well for fields with annual crops.
I see a problem with your idea due to the long term nature of an apple tree. The clover will ...
7
Not exactly a ground cover, but perhaps Mesquite? It is a legume...
New Mexico State University Guide 150
lists a number of cover crops (which may not suit the homeowner's sense of "groundcover") some of which they list as drought tolerant. Among the drought-tolerant Legumes are alfalfa (possibly not a good idea with the septic, speaking of big roots, but ...
7
I don't know how to figure out their concentration, but figuring out if you have any is easy if you're willing to be patient.
Keep in mind that there are different species of Rhizobia that work with different groups of legumes (e.g. clover needs different bacteria than string beans).
At the end of the growing season, carefully dig up the roots of your ...
7
Usually, you would wait until the plants are in full flower, and have no ripe seeds, then cut/mow the tops down and turn them under. This will add the most nitrogen to the soil (the green tops are very high in Nitrogen), and the soil microorganism population will jump, increasing nutrient availability. In a raised bed, if you don't want to turn the tops ...
7
No, it's not just for the nitrogen content, which is usually pretty low by the time the composting process has taken place (fresh manure should never be used on open ground, it needs composting first). Adding humus rich, or organic, material such as composted manures or garden compost (produced by anaerobic means or not) to soil increases the bio diversity ...
6
If you have a household, you can generate enough waste to start some Bokashi bins. You can purchase these from Green Zone Egypt. These create compost in buckets but the process needs to be finished off in soil. So when the bucket is full, and left for 10 days, take some of the material out, and put it into the bottom third of your container. Cover with ...
5
I see two possibilities:
You get poor soil
You transform your soil
You can walk around your place, and you will see some places with poor soil. This probably is also poor on nitrogen. Try a dry, stony place, with non-black (and not to dark soil), or sandy soil. Nitrogen (in soil, and humus) is made from plants, so you should look where there will be not ...
5
In my experience, composting in place in a pot does not work well. I would recommend against that option.
Given that you don't have space for a compost pile and will be growing in containers, I think that vermicomposting would be your best option. A worm bin does not need to be large - it can fit in a kitchen cabinet or on a veranda. They're easy to put ...
5
The short answer is, probably. Rot is part of the cycle, even if it's putrification which is partially what I am guessing your fish emulsion did. Though it might not be pleasant to work with and it may even have pathogens you yourself don't want to be exposed to, but strictly speaking, for the plants it's probably ok.
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(This is generic advice for increasing nitrogen -- I don't know much about hops specifically.)
Yes, a feeding of compost tea is an ok way to add nitrogen. The actual amount of nitrogen you will add depends on what went into the compost.
A better amendment for a quick nitrogen boost (don't overdo it!) is blood meal. Sprinkle some on the soil around the ...
5
Adding composted manure to the soil is probably the fastest fix. I have heard of using coffee grounds, but I hear it builds up acidity and haven't tried it.
5
I have interplanted goumi bushes between my dwarf fruit trees for this reason. I can't say for certain whether the nitrogen from the goumis is helping the fruit trees, but they are growing well and appear very healthy.
My trees are about 8 feet apart. I planted the goumi half way between the trees about a year after the initial planting. At the time, they ...
5
My question is, if I let the clover take over, and let it naturally
replenish the soils nitrogen level, will the clover recede once the
nitrogen levels rise?
Unfortunately no. Clover is a very tough weed to control and cannot be controlled by fertilization.
You should do a soil test and determine how much fertilizer your soil needs. Depending on your ...
5
I'm sorry to say that the clover will continue to grow and spread in your lawn over time. One of the issues with clover in lawn if you have young children is that it flowers - bees like the flowers, and its really easy to stand on one with a bare foot in summer, and only realise once you've been stung.
You don't say where you are, so I can't say whether ...
4
In the summer, soybeans are usually my first choice, as they sprout and grow fast, and add about 30-50 lbs of nitrogen per acre. Red clover grows a little slower, but holds the soil together and adds about 70 lbs of nitrogen/acre in a year, if plowed under. Alfalfa and vetch are slower, but can add over 100 lbs Sometimes over 150 lbs) of nitrogen per acre in ...
4
The composting process works best when the C:N ratio is about 30:1. So you will want to add N to reach that ratio. If a 20kg bale is 45% C and 0.5% N (section 4), there's about 8.25kg C and 0.09 kg N or about 90:1 C:N. If you add 0.25 kg N you'll be around the 30:1 ratio.
Now, that 30:1 is ideal for composting, but there won't be anything left over for ...
4
The starting point of studies here was the observation that legumes, and species of this family are able to deposit nitrogen in the soil in which they live. Furthermore, the type of nitrogen that deposit, which is of an organic nature (manufactured by living beings), is not washed away by rain, as instead happens to inorganic form.
To avoid damage to the ...
4
The answer may be Falcata Alfalfa--an Alfalfa cultivar that is especially drought-tolerant. I've read 12" minimum rainfall, and we get 7", but maybe I can make it work growing with other native grasses in a moisture-retaining heavy clay soil. I'll update this answer once I've planted some.
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You appear to have confused nitrogen fixing (the process where bacteria and legumes work together to fix nitrogen from the air into the soil in a plant-usable form) with nitrogen depletion, a temporary condition caused by the breakdown of carbonaceous materials tying up nitrogen reserves in the soil and keeping plants from using them.
MY observation and ...
4
I've been checking information for conifer growing where you are - if your Junipers are growing in open ground, there is no recommendation to give them fertiliser on a regular basis. There is a recommendation that the soil they're planted in should be improved prior to planting by incorporating bone meal/fish blood and bone and good humus rich material such ...
3
Nitrogen poor soil would be SUB SOIL. Dig down at least 2 or 3 feet and you shall find nitrogen poor soil. Get a test! From the Coop Extension Service and while you are there ask them what they think!!
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You should start a compost pile. From the linked source, be aware that the type of material you compost does make a difference in how much nitrogen you get in the end. IE:
fruit & vegetable scraps - Nitrogen
leaves - Carbon
grass clippings - Nitrogen
lawn & garden weeds - Nitrogen
shrub prunings - Carbon
3
We use aged manure on our tree crops and it's fine, as long as it's aged. It's full of ammonia and will absolutely burn up veggie crops if not seasoned (aged). Manure that's aged is wonderful for pasture lands, some vegetable, trees, shrubs and that's about it. We have poultry houses and we have lots and use a lot also in our tree farm.
Fresh manure has ...
3
The idea behind the straw bale technique is to take a predominantly carbon source, add nitrogen to parts of it to create compost, and to grow plants which are going to use the compost/humus while it is being created.
The nitrogen provides the energy for composting bacteria to convert the straw to humus thereby freeing up the nutrients in the straw so that ...
3
Okay, this is only useful for those who are not averse to using chemicals. Most selective broad-leaf herbicides are effective with only one treatment, but may take two.
Dicamba (3,6-dichloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid), Often used as a three-way with 2,4-D and Mecoprop. Do not use under the driplines of trees and shrubs.
Fluroxypyr, often used in a three-way ...
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I'm wondering where you are in the world for one thing, but Rosemary is a mediterranean plant used to growing on dry, impoverished soils. It's not too keen on over fertilised environments, so that might well be the cause of the problem. I note you mention poulty manure - if this was pelleted or neat, it needs to be 'slacked' before use if you're applying to ...
3
By the look of it, I would suppose that the plant isn't getting enough calcium, even if there's enough in the soil. That is, if the same leaves initially grew like that (if not, I'd suspect a pest or possibly a disease). Many things could interfere with calcium absorption (e.g. too much nitrogen, which I believe is the case here, too much potassium, cool ...
1
It turns out this question is too general for any good specific answer.
In short, the amount recommended in a single application will depend on so many variables like grass species, how many applications you do per year, soil conditions, weather, etc.
However after looking about, I've found a few good resources. The best I've found is the Northeast ...
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