For the past five years, we've been actively cultivating a beautiful flower with the mysterious name of phacelia. Just look at its beauty (as in the famous song):
This plant, considered an excellent green manure crop from the Aquilegiaceae family, grows to about 100 cm and has branched stems. After emergence, flowering begins approximately six weeks later and lasts for almost 30 days.
But this is general information, and I would like to focus on the benefits for the garden and the farm as a whole:
- improves the structure of the soil in the upper layers thanks to the developed root system on the sides;
- saturates the soil, and at the same time vegetable crops, with nutrients, especially potassium and nitrogen;
- reduces acidity levels;
- suppresses the growth of weeds because it has a herbicidal effect;
- does not transmit diseases to crops, since it does not get sick and does not accept pests that are typical for vegetables, fruit and berry trees and shrubs;
- the soil is enriched with oxygen:
- has bactericidal properties, therefore it suppresses the development of fungal diseases and putrefactive processes;
- when planting between rows of vegetable crops, a normal level of humidity is maintained (you can water less often);
- has repellent properties, therefore it repels wireworms, locusts and nematodes;
- decorates any flower bed or empty area;
- Suitable for feeding cows, goats, rabbits.
Phacelia also attracts bees and other beneficial insects. I even managed to capture this moment:
