Cover Crop Hydroseeding Mix

The Hydroseeding Cover Crop Mix is a purposefully crafted, ready-to-sow blend designed to bring about a profound transformation in your soil's health. This specialized concoction goes above and beyond, infusing your soil with vital organic matter, enhancing aeration, and promoting nitrogen fixation—key elements for optimal soil vitality.

As an active living mulch, these hydroseeded crops don't just shield your soil from winter erosion; they become integral contributors to its well-being.

For continuous ground cover throughout the winter, consider 'Wintermax'—a viable choice for plants that resurge in spring. The inclusion of Hairy Vetch, a nitrogen-fixing legume, makes it an excellent cover crop option. Daikon radish, with its compaction-breaking qualities, further complements the mix.

Managing rye and vetch the following year using only garden tools may pose a slight challenge. While not insurmountable, having a rototiller, broad fork, or muckraker can significantly ease the process. Be prepared for this task, especially if you're planning to fall plant and intend to terminate it in early spring or May, gearing up for summer planting in the subsequent year.

In our Spring Cover Crop Hydroseeding mixture, we incorporate Hairy Vetch (Vicia villosa), a short-term legume widely employed for various purposes such as cover crops in residential gardens, weed suppression, erosion control, ground cover, and as green manure. When used as a standalone Winter cover crop in annual vegetable rotations, it has the potential to contribute up to 110 lbs. of nitrogen per acre to the subsequent Spring crop.

Crimson Clover finds common use in wildlife food plots, as cattle forage, and for decorative ground cover planting. On the other hand, White Dutch Clover stands out as particularly beneficial for homeowners rather than larger-scale agricultural applications. This specific clover variety excels as a starter and cover crop, proving valuable in areas where other vegetation struggles to thrive, especially in the vicinity of recently constructed homes.

This blend offers a straightforward and ideal mix for a cover crop during spring, summer, or fall. Oats and field peas, both prompt germination in various soil conditions, are well-suited for zones 6 or colder winters, where they typically undergo winter kill. In milder years within zones 5 and 6, the peas may die back, but the oats, although hardy, are easy to till or pull up in early spring. The peas contribute ample nitrogen to the soil, nurturing the oats, which, in turn, generate abundant organic matter in their leaves.

Beyond their soil-enhancing qualities, there are additional benefits to this blend. The growing tips of the peas offer delectable edible pea shoots, the pinkish-purple pea flowers add a touch of beauty, and the immature pea pods are perfect for consumption as snow peas. For optimal results, sow densely at any point in the season, with a preference for the cool temperatures of spring or late summer/early fall.