We have a couple of growing areas that are currently unplanted but I want to put a cover crop in...not let it go to waste. Just about everything seeds here...don't want that.... Dave, can you suggest something I could throw in and let grow ...perhaps mowing it down or weed whacking it down to decompose en situ?
TIA,
Carol
Hi Carol, for windward Hawai'i, Sudan Grass and Sunn-hemp are the best cover crops and green manure.
Sudan Grass, Sorghum sudanense, grows well under most conditions and it outgrows all other grasses and legumes. It recovers quickly after being cut, and produces heavily throughout the year.
Once the crop is destroyed it does not persist and it does not become invasive. As it has no underground stems, it is easy to eradicate.
(Range Grasses of Hawaii, Hawaii Ag Experiment Station, Bull. No. 65, 1933.)
Sunn-hemp, Crotalaria juncea, is recommended by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service as a cover crop for agricultural lands in Hawai'i.
It is a heavy producer and fixes nitrogen into the land.
Old Hawaiian style was to grow Kukui trees, Aleurites moluccana, on the land, knock them down, let them dry, then burn them, turn the ashes into the soil, and plant a crop.
Hope that helps!
Aloha, Dave
I like the Hawaiian Style...but I would be dead before the Kukui grew big enough!!!
Thanks so much for your advice!!!
Off to plant some Kukui trees - I am NOT that old! LOL!
Is that a picture of one of your Hoyas, Carol? How very pretty, does it have a nice scent?
No scent readily detectable...unfortunately. It is a cv. Ruthie that has become all yellow instead of the rust color in the corollas.
