swards will be widely adopted by the turfgrass industry. In summary, legume inclusion within warm-season turfgrass may play a role in sustaining low-maintenance scenarios such as lawns or roadside. However, legume inclusion offers unique challenges for
Sunn hemp, Crotalaria juncea L., is a warm-season legume that is planted before or after a vegetable cash crop to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil ( Cherr et al., 2006 , 2007 ; Mansoer et al., 1997 ; Wang et al., 2005 ). This cover
When poultry litter (PL) is applied to meet the nitrogen (N) needed for plant growth, phosphorus (P) can accumulate, leading to non-point source pollution of surface water. This study was conducted at Overton, Texas on a Bowie fine sandy loam (fine-loamy, siliceous, thermic, Plinthic Paleudults) to investigate the use of warm- and cool-season forage legumes in rotational cropping systems to remove excess P. Cropping systems were: spring legume—fall vegetable (SL-FV), spring vegetable—fall legume (SV-FL), and spring vegetable-fall vegetable (SV-FV). Warm- and cool-season legumes were Iron and Clay cowpea and crimson clover, respectively. Poultry litter rates were 0, 1X, 2X, 4X, and commercial blend (CB) as subplots. Fertility treatments were applied to vegetable plots only. The crop, IX PL and CB rate for each season were: spring 1995—watermelon, 2.2 t·ha-1, 48.8N—12.2P—28K kg·ha-1; fall 1995—turnip, 8.3 t·ha-1, 89.6N—24.4P—28K kg·ha-1; spring 1996—tomato, 6.7 t·ha-1, 100.9N—17.1P—78.5K kg·ha-1. Soil P increased at all depths sampled (0-15, 15-30, and 30-45 cm) as PL rate increased. Residual P from CB was equal to the control. Through spring 1996, soil P concentration in the surface 0-15 cm was increased by all systems. System SV-FL reduced P accumulation by 35.6 mg·kg-1 when compared to SL-FV and 44.7 mg·kg-1 when compared to SV-FV. Residual P continued to increase as PL rate increased. Rate of increase was reduced by a system of SV-FL.
A factored experiment was established at the Texas A&M Univ. Research and Extension Center at Overton in Spring 1995. The objective was to investigate the use of warm- and cool-season legume cover crops in vegetable cropping systems for reducing phosphorus (P) accumulation from poultry litter (PL) and commercial blend (CB) fertilizer. PL rates were based on soil test nitrogen (N) requirement of the vegetable crop and percent N content of the litter. This was considered the 1X rate. Fertility treatments were applied to the vegetable crop only. PL was applied at O, 1X, 2X and 4X rates. CB was applied at recommended rates for N, P, and K. The vegetable crops were: Spring 1995—watermelon; Fall 1995—turnip; Spring 1996—tomato; Fall 1996—collard; Spring 1997—squash. The legumes were: spring—Iron and Clay cowpea; fall—crimson clover. Dry-matter yield of cowpeas and clover was not affected by fertility treatment in any of the years studied to date (Spring 1995, 1996, 1997). Plant concentration of P for both cover crops was increased all 3 years as rate increased. PL applied at the 1X rate maintained P levels in the surface 0—15 cm of soil at 60 mg·kg-1 over the five-season study period. CB maintained levels of P equal to the control. A cropping system of spring vegetable—fall legume greatly reduced P accumulation. A reduction in P was also noted from a system of fall vegetable—spring legume, but not as pronounced. The greatest accumulation was with a system of spring vegetable—fall vegetable.
Smith, G.R. Stuth, J.W. 1995 Nitrogen transfer from warm-season annual legumes to pearl millet J. Plant Nutr. 18 803 813 Rhine, E.D. Mulvaney, R.L. Pratt, E.J. Sims, G.K. 1998 Improving the Berthelot reaction for determining ammonium in soil extracts and
Mothbean is known to be a drought- and heat-tolerant legume crop ( Manga et al., 2015 ). It is also known by other common names, such as mat bean, matki bean, mout bean, or dew gram ( Stephens, 1994 ). The name “moth” comes from the Hindi word
season through creation of a warmer microclimate ( O’Connell et al., 2012 ; Ward and Bomford, 2013 ; Zhao and Carey, 2009 ), a benefit that has driven dramatic increases in the use of this technology in temperate climates throughout the world ( Carey et
, and rose growers and hobbyists alike. I kept the manual handy and found it to be an important guide for rose growers and gardeners, especially here in the humid South. I think I have seen most of the warm-season diseases in the book somewhere here in
specific cover crop species in sandy soils. A study by Brewer et al. (2023a) found that legume and nonlegume mixtures of cover crops increased soil nitrate levels after seven seasons by 31% when compared with a control (no cover crops). Additionally, the
from three distinct functional groups (cool season grasses, warm season grasses, and legumes), totaling nine cover crop species, for their potential as a living mulch grown between plastic-mulched beds ( Table 1 ). Living mulches included three cool