- Joined
- Feb 5, 2019
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- Location
- East Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- old zone 8b/new zone 9a
- Country
How about some Sunflowers and Sunn Hemp together...a powerful set of nitrogen fixing, weed suppressing, organic green manure producing plants that together may make a great summer cover crop for soil building when not much else will grow in the garden.
I kind of "discovered" this by accident but I'm always looking for better ways to control weeds and build powerful garden soil using organic means. Sunflowers came up as volunteers in a cover crop planting of Sunn Hemp and they definitely show a symbiotic relationship.
The weed control is fantastic...the best I've ever seen. That is saying a lot since I've tried just about everything imaginable. This is in part due to the allopathic properties of both of these plants and the fact that they both grow to great heights to shade out sunlight from any would-be weeds wishing to sprout.
The nitrogen fixing must be off the charts high...Sunn Hemp is one of if not the best nitrogen fixing plants for hot weather and sunflowers are also reputedly very good at adding nitrogen to the soil.
The amount of organic matter produced is staggering... both reaching heights up to and above 12 ft yields incredible amounts of rich green organic matter for your soil.
This summer here has been brutal, absolutely brutal for growing things. Today's high actual temp = 110 deg. f. There has been only one night that the temp fell below 80 deg. F since late May. There has been zero rainfall since late May here. There is no end in sight...but it has to change soon as the sunlight is reducing each day now.
Very few things that I have found will grow much less thrive in those conditions...even with insane watering temps of 110 deg F just aren't tolerated well by most garden plants. Sweet potatoes, Jicama, cow peas, and sunchokes are about all I can grow in those conditions...but what a perfect time for soil building!
Companion plants of Sunn Hemp and Sunflowers seems to make a lot of sense to me for building soil in conditions that not much else will grow...plus they produce some beautiful yellow flowers to enjoy in otherwise tough conditions.
I kind of "discovered" this by accident but I'm always looking for better ways to control weeds and build powerful garden soil using organic means. Sunflowers came up as volunteers in a cover crop planting of Sunn Hemp and they definitely show a symbiotic relationship.
The weed control is fantastic...the best I've ever seen. That is saying a lot since I've tried just about everything imaginable. This is in part due to the allopathic properties of both of these plants and the fact that they both grow to great heights to shade out sunlight from any would-be weeds wishing to sprout.
The nitrogen fixing must be off the charts high...Sunn Hemp is one of if not the best nitrogen fixing plants for hot weather and sunflowers are also reputedly very good at adding nitrogen to the soil.
The amount of organic matter produced is staggering... both reaching heights up to and above 12 ft yields incredible amounts of rich green organic matter for your soil.
This summer here has been brutal, absolutely brutal for growing things. Today's high actual temp = 110 deg. f. There has been only one night that the temp fell below 80 deg. F since late May. There has been zero rainfall since late May here. There is no end in sight...but it has to change soon as the sunlight is reducing each day now.
Very few things that I have found will grow much less thrive in those conditions...even with insane watering temps of 110 deg F just aren't tolerated well by most garden plants. Sweet potatoes, Jicama, cow peas, and sunchokes are about all I can grow in those conditions...but what a perfect time for soil building!
Companion plants of Sunn Hemp and Sunflowers seems to make a lot of sense to me for building soil in conditions that not much else will grow...plus they produce some beautiful yellow flowers to enjoy in otherwise tough conditions.
but it seems to work, LOL.