Learn howtogrowhairyvetch as a cover crop to improve your garden soil.By planting HairyVetch as a cover crop, you'll be setting the stage for a healthy and productive growing environment, increasing the chances of success of future crops. Written by Teresa Chandler. How and When to Plant HairyVetch. In summer, sow the seeds togrowhairyvetch as a winter crop in mild winter regions. Hairyvetch is a hard-working, fast-growing cover crop, adding large amounts of nitrogen into the soil, benefiting the next crop. It grows quickly and densely, smothering and helping to prevent pesky weeds. HairyVetch. Nobody is growing this yet. You could be the first! Vicia villosa, known as the hairyvetch, fodder vetch or winter vetch, is a plant native to some of Europe and western Asia. It is a legume, grown as a forage crop, fodder crop, cover crop, and green manure. Hairyvetch might sound unpleasant, but it … Hairyvetch is a vigorous cover crop used throughout the world to improve soils. Learn howtogrowvetch in your own garden. HairyVetchgrows slowly in fall, but root development continues over winter. Growth quickens in spring, when hairyvetch becomes a sprawling vine up to 12 feet long. Sow HairyVetch Organic cover crop seeds from early March to mid-April, and again August to mid-September. NOTE: HairyVetch seeds are toxic to chickens, so plant out of the way of foraging flocks or cut the vetch while it is just starting to bloom. Hairyvetch is also mixed with other grasses and used as forage and hay for livestock. The nutrition isn't as good as alfalfa, but can still contribute significantly as animal feed. Hairyvetch clamboring all over the place. Vetch can be hard to get rid of because it reseeds easily. It will also climb up bushes, competing with the bush for sunlight. Hairyvetch, also termed ‘Russian vetch,” “sand vetch,” and ‘winter vetch,” is a hardy winter-annual legume, with wide adaptations to an unusual variety ‘of conditions and uses. It thrives in ‘. nearly all soils and climates and is probably more widely distributed. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features. Hairyvetch can be grown in soils with pH ranging from 4.9 to 8.2 but does best when pH is from 6.0 to 7.0. It can thrive in acid soils where clover and alfalfa do not grow well. Hairyvetch, as a fast-growing legume, may compete intensely with walnut for soil phosphorus and other limited nutrients, thereby offsetting the AMF-mediated growth benefits.
