Q: Warm Weather Cover Crop In The Desert?
Can anyone recommend a cover crop for planting now (late June) in Reno, NV. If you’re not familiar with the high desert climate, it’s arid, warm to hot during the day and cools off quite a bit at night. Average last killing frost is May 12, average first killing frost is Sept 15.
I have a plot of sandy loam with low nutrient levels that I’d like to plant with veggies next year. I’ve heard that planting a cover crop adds nutrients when tilled under.
Thanks,
Dave
Tags: cover crop, desert, first frost, last frost, low nutrients, sandy loam
June 30th, 2009 at 11:57 am
I live in the Reno area and am having good results with buckwheat.
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Thanks, Wendy. I’m wondering if the Summer Soil Builder Mix, which is 70% Buckwheat and 30% Cowpeas, would do as well. The benefit of adding cowpeas is fixing nitrogen in the soil as well, I believe.
Dave
July 19th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I use sudan/cowpeas/buckwheat for summer cover