Mustard is a very useful siderate, which after decomposition in the soil becomes an excellent fertilizer, replenishing in it the reserves of humus and organic matter. It restricts the growth of weeds, makes the land more loose, actively revitalizes the soil, killing many microbes and fungi and preventing the multiplication of pests.
The special value of mustard is that it very quickly sprouts and grows green mass, and during flowering attracts useful insects. It is possible to sow mustard in spring, for 1-1,5 months before planting the main crops, and it is possible in autumn after harvesting. But whether you need to dig up the mustard or you can just mow down - we'll talk about this below.
Do I need to dig mustard?
After a month or one and a half after planting, when the mustard grows to 15-20 cm, it can be cut with a flat-cut or oblique. It is advisable to water it with a solution of EM preparations beforehand in order to speed up the processes of fermentation and create all the necessary conditions for maximum soil enrichment with nutrients.
But here's the question - do you need to dig up the mustard for the siderates or leave it in a sloping condition? Experts advise not to dig it, especially in the fall, but just leave it on the ground. It will have time to be properly reworked by spring. And the dying roots, left inside, will give the earth a softness and structure.
If you still decided to dig up the mustard, you should follow some rules. First of all, we must choose the right time for this. When is it better to dig up mustard in autumn or spring? It all depends on when you planted it. It is logical that spring mustard should be dug in the spring, before planting potatoes or other crops in its place.
Answering the question - is it necessary to dig up mustard in the autumn, it should be noted that experts advise this period. By autumn, the mustard accumulates a maximum of useful substances and is ready to give them to the soil.
Before digging, you need to wait for the flowering mustard - at the time of its inception, the plant has accumulated the greatest amount of useful substances. But it is not necessary to tighten, because, firstly, the stems of the mustard are coarsened and rotted worse, and secondly, if the seeds fly, unwanted shoots will appear.
Precautions when growing mustard
For all its good, mustard still carries a certain risk to its followers, that is, those cultures that will be planted in its place. Since the plant is cruciferous, it threatens all the same diseases and pests as other cruciferous ones - cabbage, radish, radish.
Therefore, in the place of mustard, these crops can not be planted, so that they are not likely to have transmitted diseases, for example, keel, and pests such as cruciferous flea .