Using mustard for green manure

Why green manure?

Green manuring is often carried out on fallow land in order to enrich the soil with nutrients and to prevent silting up and leaching of nutrients from the soil.

What does mustard do as a green manure?

The deep roots of the mustard plants loosen the soil.
The dense plant cover prevents the soil from becoming muddy and nutrients from being washed out.
After the mustard plants have been cut, they release the nutrients they have absorbed back into the soil as humus.
The mustard plants prevent weeds from overgrowing the empty beds.

How is mustard used as a foundation?

Mustard can be planted as a green manure practically at any frost-free season. As I said, it is often used as a catch crop, for example after you have harvested early vegetables such as lettuce. Sow the mustard seeds as described here. If you do not sow until late in the year, you can also plant the plants more densely than 20cm. Water and care for your mustard like any other garden herb. You can also harvest some of the aromatic leaves every now and then and use them in a salad.

In autumn, at the latest during flowering, before the seeds develop, cut the mustard plants down to the ground. Leave the leaves and flowers in place so they can continue to protect the soil and also provide it with nutrients.

Green manure without effort

Alternatively, you can simply leave the mustard to stand in autumn. The leaves freeze to death and can simply be dug under in spring. However, in this case you run the risk of the mustard sowing itself. Therefore, it is better to harvest the seeds in autumn.

When should mustard not be used as a green manure?

Since mustard is one of the cruciferous vegetables, the usual crop rotation must be observed. Cruciferous vegetables may only be planted in the same location every four years. Therefore, mustard may not be used for green manuring in locations where cabbage plants, radishes, radishes or other cruciferous vegetables have grown in the last three years.