From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Duxbury,Ma.

Whats the skinny on having to cut and let mustard dry before tilling in or just till it in?

10/2/2014 6:25:22 AM

South of Buffalo

no drying, cut and break it up/mash it up to break the cells then till in so it will biofumagate

10/2/2014 6:42:59 AM

Glosta

After you till water it in good and cover the area with clear plastic, seal the edges with dirt and leave for minimum 2 weeks. The faster you get it covered the more of the biofumigant gets trapped and can help your soil.

Mustard contains glucosinolates and as the crop is chopped up they are released (thats why covering quickly with plastic is important so you can retain as much of these as possible) , they react with an enzyme called myrosinase in the presence of water (thats why you need to water the soil after till). this reaction produces isothyocianate (ITC) which is the biofumigant.

Word of caution for mustard cover crop users. If you grow mustard and till it in and do not follow the rest of the steps all you really did was give the disease in your soill a host for the time it was growing. granted you may kill off some bad guys just by tilling it in, but without trapping it in the soil the effect is short lived and not as effect as it could be.

10/2/2014 12:39:04 PM

Duxbury,Ma.

Why clear plastic? Thanks for your response

10/2/2014 12:54:58 PM

Glosta

clear will also heat the soil through solarization increasing the breakdown of cover crop and also help weaken/kill the disease.

10/2/2014 1:25:56 PM

France

I fully agree with Bryan. However, only Brown Mustard has a high glucosinates % and will fight severals soil pathogenes as pythium, rhizoctone etc...
You have to till it just after mulching it to get an effective biofumigant action.

10/2/2014 2:52:26 PM

Torrance, Ca.

Very cool Bry.

10/2/2014 3:12:00 PM

Duxbury,Ma.

Thanks everyone for your input, Bry hope to see you at Topsfield

10/3/2014 5:07:35 AM