25 Tips to Manage and Grow Cover Crops
Practical Tips to Grow and Manage Cover Crops Jim Hoorman, Putnam County AGNR Extension Educator will be out of the office from July 20 through August 5th, teaching Cover Crops and Soil Ecology in China. If you have questions, please call the Extension office (419) 523-6294 or contact Curtis Young (419) 238-1214 in Van Wert County or Ed Lentz (419) 422-3851 in Hancock County. The following are 10 tips for growing and managing cover crops. Tip 1: Use cover crop mixtures composed of at least one grass, one legume, and one brassica or other diverse cover crop species. Mix summer annuals with fall and winter annuals to increase crop diversity. Tip 2: Select diverse species that maximize both sunlight and moisture interception. At least 50 percent of cover crop species should be low growing, another 30 percent intermediate, and 20 percent tall growing. Select cover crops that have a variety of taproots and fibrous root systems that incept moisture from different soil regions. The goal is ...