RADISHES USED AS A COVER CROP SUPPLY MORE NUTRIENTS THAN SYNTHETIC FERTILIZERS
Radishes and other cruciferous vegetables are good scavengers, pulling nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and micronutrients from deeper in the soil with their taproots. Joel Gruver, Western Illinois University found that when they are planted as a cover crop and frost killed, these nutrients are released into the soil, and those already in the soil become more available. The result is more nutrients are available for crops in the spring than would be with if synthetic fertilizers were used. We can plant radishes as a cover crop in our gardens in areas where it frosts, and there isn’t any clean up in the spring, the radishes just degrade!
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