The Best Warm-Weather Cover Crops for Your Garden!

On this week's Row by Row Garden Show, we discuss using warm-weather cover crops to improve your vegetable garden soil.
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[@susank6267]

This show is so very helpful. Thank you all so much!

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Our pleasure!

[@Strictlyfishin76]

Thanks for all the wonderful information Greg and Travis!!!!

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Thanks for watching!

[@bethmitchell2512]

LMBO....I can't stop laughing. Greg is really making love to his corn!!!!! Love you guys...

[@BosnWayne]

He needed a "moment"!

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Must have been some good stuff!

[@steveplatt1]

As always. Good show fellows.

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Thanks Veggie Man!

[@BosnWayne]

Nice show tonight guys

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Thanks Wayne!

[@benb7727]

Can you guys explain nematodes? What they are, what kind of soil they’re in, how they hurt crops, how to fix it? Love what y’all do.

[@gardeningwithhoss]

They're in all soils. They are a microscopic roundworm and are considered one of the most numerous animal on earth. There are good nematodes and parasitic ones.

[@Grumpyneanderthal]

I was about to get offended cause y’all pulled a slow roll on eating tonight. Travis needed his own ear to munch on. Good one guys

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Always gotta be eating something!

[@portiaholliday8741]

Thanks for teaching both monocots and dicots are beneficial for different reasons.

[@gardeningwithhoss]

You're welcome!

[@Strictlyfishin76]

KEEP ON CHOMPING BROTHER!!!! HATERS GONNA HATE😂😂😂😂

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Those veggies are too good not to eat them.

[@tommathews3964]

Man, that corn chomping did my heart good! I can't wait for the corn to come in! Great show about another timely subject! Lots of folks take a mid summer break down here and that's a perfect time for a cover crop. I'm getting ready to do a small plot in buckwheat and one in sorghum sudangrass, and yes, I'll be tarping them when done. Curious to see what you guys think of the tarps. Fire ants has been my biggest negative, but I can deal with them (I'm going to have to anyway!). I really like to leave myself an extra week after I prep that bed, I'll rake it out just like I was getting ready to plant, water the plot, and then pull the tarp back on for that last week. Any weed seed I've brought up will be germinating under there and be killed off. Pull the tarp, rake lightly and you're ready to go! Oh, maybe one more negative about tarps, it's allowed me to be lazy at times, because I know that plot is protected and there ain't any weeds growing, so I just might be guilty of putting things off a bit.

[@gardeningwithhoss]

We need to go ahead and order several sizes. Any recommendation on the thickness? Also, any ideas on best pricing? Many of the online carriers have outrageous shipping costs.

[@tommathews3964]

@@gardeningwithhossI'm trying to find out where we got our last ones. We have used Farmers Friend before. My brother ordered the last tarps, it was from a plastic specialty type site. Ours are 5mil. thick. I see a lot of folks using 6mil. The thicker the better if you have help with handling etc. Our biggest tarp is 24'x40', and believe me, it's a handful when trying to handle it alone! (especially if it's a bit windy!) UV treated is the big deal and the main difference between these tarps and regular plastic rolls (like underlayment, vapor barriers etc) that you get at the big box stores. farmplasticsupply.com/bunker-covers , these guys will cut to size, which is a BIG deal! We have so many weird sized plots that we ordered in bulk and cut our own, but it is a HUGE pain. My brother did most of it alone (bless him!) spread out all over a big pasture, and it was a job! farmersfriendllc.com/ these guys are in Tennessee and a good source. I have ordered tarps from them as well as sandbags. Good folks! www.bootstrapfarmer.com/products/black-out-cover-4-mil-silage I don't know Boot Strap Farmer, but they are offering free shipping and cut to order. I know Johnny's Seeds carries these as well, but I'm sure their prices and shipping will be high. I'll let you know if he remembers where ours came from (dang sure hope he does, they don't last forever!) PS: I STRONGLY suggest using sand bags with these for weight. They are cheap, easy to handle, fairly durable and easy on the tarps. You can throw or slide them across the tarps without damage (handy, you'll see what I mean!) etc. I've used bricks, firewood, rocks etc with less than satisfactory results.

[@garycurd2180]

I feel for you in that heat cant imagine it

[@gardeningwithhoss]

We've gotten used to it now, but the first couple days were rough.

[@dyannevans9179]

Hay Greg you like that corn! It sound like a 7 piece orchestra lol Ron

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Haha. Nice and crunch!

[@waynebusse6376]

I transplant around five to ten thousand sweet corn plants every year. Here in Indiana, the only way to get sweet corn by the fourth of July is to transplant. I start my first planting on April 1 in 72 count trays in the greenhouse. The earliest I plant seed in the ground is on the tenth and that is a gamble with the cool wet weather. I love transplanted corn because I can keep it weed free as the corn is six inches tall when the weeds are tiny and a wheel hoe will bury them with ease. The only thing you have to watch is to transplant while the corn is less than three inches tall or it can be stunted if it stays in the flat too long. I shoot for as small as I can and still keep the soil ball from falling apart, around two weeks from planting in the flat. Let's talk fertility... My daddy always said, " side dressing corn is like trying to feed a bail of hay up the wrong end of a cow. It's too late and the stomach can't reach it." Corn roots go down so your fertilizer should be down where their headed. Nitrogen can be washed down but P and K will stay close to the surface. I have two five gallon buckets mounted on the front of my five foot tiller with a 5/8" hole covered by a metal flap with a pull rope. I made a shoe for each lift arm that makes a six inch furrow where the triple 12 trickles into in front of the tiller. The tiller mixes the fert in a band about a foot wide and I have a three inch triangle marker on the tailgate of the tiller that leaves a two inch grove to mark my rows. I then transplant or plant seed in the grove. I space my transplants one foot apart and always get two nice ears per stalk. At $ 6.00 a dozen that's one dollar for each plant. Not bad... I can transplant about 2,600 plants in four hours. In order to keep sweet corn on my produce table every day of the week I need to plant every seven to ten days. When it's time to plant and the ground is too wet to work, I sit in the greenhouse and plant into flats and hope I can work some ground in two weeks to be able to transplant. Travis, I used the high arch to cultivate some two inch corn and then came back four days later with the plows to get weed free planted corn. Used the seeder to plant eight rows and I used half the seed I normally would with the earthway. Love the tools! My first patch is waist high and showing tassels, should have corn ready by June 25th this year. No one has any field corn planted yet as it's been too wet. I'm sure I've got the only corn showing tassels in the state of Indiana, unless someone else did some transplanting on or before April 15.

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Good to hear you've figured a way to get sweet corn before everyone else!

[@delsurf71]

I live in the mid-atlantic and grow in raised beds. Other than peppers and tomatoes have decided to grow mostly spring and fall crops. Even before this video I was thinking buckwheat. Your thoughts?, my greens and garlic are about to be done. I have planted rye/field peas in unused beds in the late summer. I am trying to learn how to used cover crops to build soil and smash weeds. Thanks for the video.

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Buckwheat is a great option for summer. It grows really fast and usually matures in 6 weeks.

[@kevinrogers1033]

Enjoy the show. can you give more info on the tarp. The thickness or mil. How long do you leave it on.

[@gardeningwithhoss]

We'll be experimenting with it this year for the first time, so we'll have to wait and see.

[@agdayem]

Great video as alway. I find sumhemp gives the best of both worlds for summer cover crops: biomass and nitrogen fixation. Only problem is that it’s not available where I live (in Egypt). Can cowpea be a good alternative? Thanks

[@SB-ic2kl]

Great show boys! I'm curious how that Honey selected tasted & compared to the Ambrosia you normally grow? Which did you like the best? And when do you plan on planting your Fall corn? I'm thinking about doing it too. Thanks!

[@gardeningwithhoss]

It's certainly sweeter than the Ambrosia. We usually plant fall corn in towards the end of August.

[@carolavant3778]

Excellent show! I've got about 1000 sq feet of sandy soil, some nematode problems, and my "nemesis weed" is mimosa weed - it will flat take over! So, which would be best for a Summer cover crop in a small garden area? And always keep your words soft and sweet - you never know when you might have to eat them!

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Sorghum sudangrass or sunn hemp will be your best option if nematode suppression is your goal.

[@michaelmorris1802]

I was hoping you were going to do sweet potato planting this week... my slips arrived today from your friends, and so tomorrow I'm putting them in.

[@gardeningwithhoss]

We did plant sweet potatoes this week. That's the topic for the next show.

[@michaelmorris1802]

@@gardeningwithhoss Well, mine are in the ground as well, was just curious how you guys do them... guess I'll find out on Thursday. :) Pulled all my beans today, ate up with nematodes... guess I need to order some cover crop. Took them far far away from my garden gonna burn them.

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Get some sorghum sudangrass or Sunn Hemp. Both of those are warm-season cover crops that help with nematodes.

[@welchfarmnc]

If you have not used the corn silk brush you need to get one. Just ordered brush for my neighbor

[@gardeningwithhoss]

It is certainly a handy tool to have!

[@buckshots4800]

Last couple of years for me too much rain, garden too wet, mild temps and not a ton of sun. This year ton of sun, major heat, little to no rain.

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Always something!

[@alittletexasingeorgia]

I tried a cover crop over the winter but I didn't know what to do with it after it was ready to do away with and get ready for planting in spring. Do you just till it in, chop it down and then till or just chop? It would be great to address the treatment with the different cover crops for us new to cover crops.

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Chop then till for the tall stuff. For things like buckwheat and Sunn Hemp, you can usually just till.

[@42660]

Hey Travis & Greg..(Hoss Tool's)..I want to clear a garden plot..Any idea's on how to kill off the Bermuda grass..Its very deep rooted..I hate to use Round up..What do you do or what would you do.I am from South Carolina zone 8..I figure you Southern Ga.Boys will have a lot of experience with this grass..Thanks for what you do...

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Bermudagrass is tough. Roundup is the easiest solution, but understandable if you don't want to do that. You could also till it once a week or two for several months and it will finally kill it. Tarping might work as well.

[@larrymoore6640]

Very interesting show. I have a question about cover crops. Other then helping the soil and preventing weed growth what would for example buckwheat help produce in the garden??

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Buckwheat is also a phosphorous scavenger, so it helps store those nutrients for the subsequent crops. Cover crops are like a soil restoration. They restore the soil from the nutrient depletion that it might experience from a vegetable crop.

[@80krauser]

Buckwheat is a prolific flower maker and attracts tons of pollinators. If you let it bloom of course

[@garyschmelzer]

Tear it up there hoss.

[@gardeningwithhoss]

He was getting after it wasn't he?!

[@garyschmelzer]

@@gardeningwithhoss yeah he was like he has not eatin in month of sundays

[@Lafayettelyle]

Can you transplant sweetcorn? I do often. When my push planter goofs up and gives me a three foot skip and I am thinning my sweetcorn when it gets three leaves. I transplant some from the ends of the row to fill in the ugly skips and they never miss a lick I do this with a trowel. The thinnings I pull just don't have enough root.

[@gardeningwithhoss]

We have with some success and have with some big failures.

[@davidconnelly9199]

How do you all clean up your gardens after the season and get them ready for cover crops? What do you do with all the left over plants?

[@gardeningwithhoss]

We pull most of them and put them in the burn pile. Fungi and insect eggs can overwinter if you leave them there. So we like to remove all the plants and weeds before tilling/cultivating to prepare for a cover crop.

[@KrazyKajun602]

What spring/summer cover crop do you recommend for clay soils?

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Sorghum Sudangrass is a great soil builder. Keep mowing it and it those clippings help condition the soil.

[@savingmayberry387]

What would be a good cover crop to grow , cut and then use as a mulch in the garden ?

[@gardeningwithhoss]

kodiac Brown mustard

[@buckshots4800]

I have a small garden. Only about 20 by 40. Only growing tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, corn, sweet potatoes, red potatoes and okra. That being the case is there a single cover crop for us small scale gardeners?

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Sure. It kinda depends on how fast you need it to mature. If you're working with a smaller window, go buckwheat or sunn hemp. For a longer window, go sorghum sudangrass or millet.

[@jgarrett4545]

how do y'all keep your cucumbers from getting bitter when it is this hot and dry?

[@gardeningwithhoss]

The drip irrigation seems to keep them well fed and tasty.

[@constancelovejoy7308]

What is a fall corn? Do u sell it?

[@gardeningwithhoss]

It's just sweet corn that we grow in the fall.

[@robertdavis5043]

100 degree gggggggggggggg im still burning wood pellets in Maine

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Whole different climate down here!

[@danielleevans201]

Where to order daikon radishes

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Right here: hosstools.com/product/tillage-radish/

[@GuitarZombie]

you have corn?

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Oh yeah!

[@buck187uga]

I eat that worm boys OPM!

[@gardeningwithhoss]

Get it!