Kitchen Garden Forum

Hello All, I have a question please about Green Manures please? I have a 6ft x 8ft bed on my Allotment, late August last year I sowed some Green Manure Winter Mix, it grew well & I cut it late March this year & dug it in , Mid April I planted out my Sweetcorn, Parsnips & Pumpkins, the growth has been poor & some of the Pumpkins leaves have gone yellow? This has always been a good bed in previous years & very productive despite it being clay soil, could the Winter mix have interfered with my Crop Rotation do you think? Thanks Ruth

I use green manures every year, but tend to stick to single varieties like grazing rye or phacelia, so have no experience with 'winter mix'. It might have been better to leave a longer gap between digging the green manure and planting so that the plants have completely rotted down. Also (and I don't know where you live), planting sweetcorn and especially pumpkins out in mid April seems very early. I would think that the yellowing leaves on the pumpkins are due to low temperatures.

I have read that freshly dug in green manure can affect seed germination but, have not heard before about affecting plants!
I would give the plants a good soak, then a liquid feed and see if that does the trick….

Think I will try a natural soil food this year in powdered form & see if it is any better? Thanks for the replies