Testing cover crop species under three soil moisture conditions in a controlled greenhouse environment
Cover crops are plants used to cover the soil between crops. In vineyards, they can be found under the vines or between rows of vines. They protect the soil from erosion and reduce weed pressure.
But if legumes are used, they can also increase nitrogen in the soil. Selecting the right cover crops can be difficult and testing under different field conditions is needed.
In this greenhouse experiment, we tested nine cover crop species and examined their performance when exposed to over-watered, well-watered, and water deficit soil conditions.
Read this paper on the Canadian Journal of Plant Science website.
The results suggest that pearl millet and yellow sweet clover grew the best in all conditions. All nine species decreased in size when exposed to water deficit conditions. Alfalfa did not grow well under over-watered conditions.
The next step is to test in the field to determine whether these plants can tolerate different management systems.
Read the paper — “Testing cover crop species under three soil moisture conditions in a controlled greenhouse environment” by M.L. Ben Kalifa, H. VanVolkenburg and Liette Vasseur.
