Terminating Cover Crops to Prepare the Garden

Cover Crop Termination
Host Casey Hentges shows us 6 different types of cover crops that are growing out at The Botanic Garden at OSU and some different ways to go about terminating them to get it ready for the garden.

Airdate (04/03/21) #4740
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[kathleentierney]

I love cover crops! Another no till termination method is to tarp for 3-4 weeks prior to planting.

[anneg]

Two things. 1. To terminate winter Rye (not cereal) just make sure that it's cut below the soil line. It doesn't have to be very deep because we don't want to disturb the top inches of the soil too much but that should terminate it after a few cuts. Just do that for a few weeks before planting/sowing. In addition, you can also cover the area with a tarp or something to keep it in the dark after cutting. It's okay to plant in the roots. They will decay quickly and give what you sowed a nice trail for the new roots. Use a putty knife to cut your rows/holes with minimal disturbance. 2. I just learned (cannot remember where. Sorry) that the leaves/stems of each individual kind of vegetable provides the unique nutrition for growth of that same individual kind of plant. So this year I'm going to make a separate tea from each kind of plant. Maybe a little OCD but seems like a fun experiment and sort of confirmed by your leaf mold success.

[budj]

Excellent video with a really good explanation of the options and methods for cover crops. Your video is especially good for raised bed gardeners who need to learn how to terminate their cover crops in raised beds. Thanks.

[channagirijagadish]

Very informative and to the point. Thanks

[emilyb]

Nice video! It's great to learn how I can use cover crops in my home garden. Your video was very informative and accessible!

[jeffmartin]

Clip and cover with a light barrier is my prefered method....

[robertgulfshores]

I'm trying not to till anymore. I will try to manually cut them back to the ground with trimmers or a weed eater, and then cover with a tarp for a few weeks.

[anneg]

Thank you for mentioning legumes must be terminated to release the nitrogen. So many YouTube gardeners don't seem to realize that.

[lucindaheilman]

Hi, thank you for information. I planted a cover of peas & Something Else (that I can't recall) I cut it down about 5 weeks ago but the Something Else is growing back. Should I pull the roots before tilling?

[cindyrae]

What brand and model tiller did you use at minute 3:37? Thanks!

[ElizLeone]

Thank you for your informative video. I've heard that some of the grasses that I'd hoped to use (rye, oats) won't be killed by merely cutting, but will have to be tilled in. Is that your experience? I'm hoping to avoid tilling, but to find cover crops that can be terminated by mowing. Thank you!

[quintoncarroll]

So if i want to harvest the wheatberries then that may not work for a cover crop?

[susanforet]

So then, I cut my cover crop and leave it in the bed fo a couple of months so breaks down and then I put my starter plants in. Right? Thank you!

[jmajick]

I wonder how effective a propane torch made for killing grass and weeds would be.

[AJ-bfhw]

Tilling is bad for the soil structure.