The purpose of a cover crop is for something other than a harvestable crop. The benefits it will provide of renewing soil health, adding essential organic matter to the soil, which then improves soil structure and builds soil fertility, is why you would decide to plant a cover crop.
You plant a cover crop, often a fast-growing plant like legumes or grasses, in late summer or fall into empty or recently harvested garden beds.
Cover crops can help provide essential nutrients to your garden soil. Legumes, such as clover and peas, form a symbiotic relationship with Rhizobia bacteria. These bacteria take nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form that is usable for plants, a process called nitrogen fixation. In return, the bacteria live in the roots of the legumes. Once the legume cover crop dies, this nitrogen is released back into the soil for the following crop to use. Other cover crops, such as rye and oats, are known as scavengers. Their roots find nutrients within the soil that may be unreachable or unused by crops outside the growing season. When the cover crop dies, the nutrients are then released back into the soil where the following crop can access them. Scavengers take up more nutrients than they need for growth and in doing so prevent nutrients from getting lost through leaching and erosion.
When cover crops die, they decompose adding organic matter to the soil and releasing nitrogen, which is then slowly released to your plants. Organic matter also increases the soil’s ability to hold on to other essential nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and potassium. Soils with high organic matter often need less nitrogen fertilizer.
Hi Daniel,
The purpose of a cover crop is for something other than a harvestable crop. The benefits it will provide of renewing soil health, adding essential organic matter to the soil, which then improves soil structure and builds soil fertility, is why you would decide to plant a cover crop.
You plant a cover crop, often a fast-growing plant like legumes or grasses, in late summer or fall into empty or recently harvested garden beds.
Cover crops can help provide essential nutrients to your garden soil. Legumes, such as clover and peas, form a symbiotic relationship with Rhizobia bacteria. These bacteria take nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form that is usable for plants, a process called nitrogen fixation. In return, the bacteria live in the roots of the legumes. Once the legume cover crop dies, this nitrogen is released back into the soil for the following crop to use. Other cover crops, such as rye and oats, are known as scavengers. Their roots find nutrients within the soil that may be unreachable or unused by crops outside the growing season. When the cover crop dies, the nutrients are then released back into the soil where the following crop can access them. Scavengers take up more nutrients than they need for growth and in doing so prevent nutrients from getting lost through leaching and erosion.
When cover crops die, they decompose adding organic matter to the soil and releasing nitrogen, which is then slowly released to your plants. Organic matter also increases the soil’s ability to hold on to other essential nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and potassium. Soils with high organic matter often need less nitrogen fertilizer.