La Semence Bio - Common vetch

COMMON VETCH

Description: vetch has purple flowers and is a climber. Advice: sow it in mixture with rye for example, it will act as a stake! It is a very good ground cover.

Family: Fabaceae (legumes)

Latin name: Vicia Sativa L.

Exposure: sunny

Weight: 70 g

Growing instructions

Soil maintenance: very good ground cover, suitable for poor and heavy soils.

Sowing : sow it in mixture with rye for example, it will act as a stake !

Emergence: growth is rather slow and requires a availability of the plots from 3 to 6 months.

Watering: water until emergence.

Incorporation of the green manure in the soil: the destruction of the green manure is done by crushing which allows to accelerate the decomposition. Incorporate it into the soil with a tool with teeth or discs in the first 25 centimeters because the surface micro-organisms (bacteria, azotobacter) will ensure its decomposition. It is preferable that the incorporation in the soil is carried out between 30 to 50 days before the following culture, (the delay will have to be longer for the direct sowing than for the plantations).

Origin: it is in the Mediterranean basin that the plant developed mainly in the XVIIIth and XIXth centuries to provide fodder to the cattle.

Advice from La Semence Biolegumes are interesting for their capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen thanks to their nodules. After destruction of the plant, this nitrogen is returned to the soil and available for the following crop. They are often associated with a grass that serves as a stake.

The cultivation of green manures is an integral part of production techniques in organic market gardening for four good reasons:

1. Maintaining soil fertility;

2. Improving soil structure;

3. Increasing soil microbial life;

4. Controlling weeds.

The advice and suggestions are given as a guide only and therefore do not imply a guarantee of success.