Alfalfa is a grassy plant with openwork growth. It belongs to the legume family. Many species are found around the globe, but the main centers are Central Asia, the Mediterranean and North America. The plant is very popular in agriculture, as it is an excellent green manure, honey plant, medicine and forage crop. Such wonderful qualities of alfalfa were known even 6-7 millennia ago. In addition to useful characteristics, alfalfa has decorative properties and can be used to decorate the garden in a natural style.
Plant description
The genus of alfalfa is represented by annual and perennial plants. Branched grassy stems branch from the base or closer to the ends, therefore they often form a shrub 0.5-1.5 m high. A powerful rod rhizome penetrates deeply (up to 10 m) into the soil and is covered by lateral branches. This allows alfalfa to accumulate nutrients and nutrients inaccessible to many other plants. Some varieties tend to have horizontal root shoots. Like most legumes, nodules with nitrogen-fixing bacteria form on the roots of alfalfa. This helps to process nitrogen from the air and enrich the soil with nutrients.
Petiole leaves grow along the entire length of the shoots. They are grouped in 3 and have a rounded or oblong shape. Each lobe grows on a small separate petiole. In the central segment, it is elongated. Notches are present along the edge of the sheet plate, and a short pile is often visible on the reverse side.
Cylindrical or capitate inflorescences of a cylindrical shape bloom from the axils of the leaves and at the top of the stem. Their length is 1.5-8 cm. Each has 12-26 buds. Corollas in the shape of a sailboat or moth consist of 5 petals. The lower pair is fused and the stamens and pestle are located in it. Flowers sit on individual shortened pedicels. The lower buds are the first to blossom. The color of the petals is dominated by shades of blue, purple or yellow. Varieties with variegated flowers are found. The flowering period begins after 1.5-2 months after sowing and can last up to 3-4 weeks. Each brush blooms up to 10 days. Every day, 3-5 new buds open in it.
Pollination occurs only with the help of insects. After it, fruits in the form of beans with brown or brown peel are tied. They are sickle-shaped or spiral-shaped. Inside are small, similar to tiny beans, seeds. Their dense, weakly permeable shell is colored yellow or brown-brown.
Alfalfa variety
Alfalfa is represented by more than 100 species of plants. About half of them can be found in Russia.
Alfalfa sickle (yellow). A plant with developed rhizome and basal offspring looks like a large shrub 40-80 cm high. Shoots are bare or covered with a sparse pile. Ternate petiole leaves of an oval-lanceolate or lanceolate form grow on them. The length of the sheet is 0.5-2.2 cm, and the width is 2-6 mm. Dense capitate brushes adorn alfalfa in June-July. In them, on short pedicels, up to 7-40 buds are located. The length of the boat is 1-1.2 cm. After pollination, twisted sickle-shaped or lunar beans, covered with ferruginous pile, mature. Their length is only 8-12 mm.
Alfalfa hop-like. Annual or biennial grass with a less developed stem root grows many thin, open stems 10-50 cm tall. Small petiolate leaves of a rhombic shape grow 7-15 mm long and 3-10 mm wide. They have a wedge-shaped base and a small notch at the top. On the back there is a glandular pile. Small (up to 2 mm) yellow flowers are collected in dense ovoid heads of inflorescences. Fruits in the form of a single seed bean up to 2 mm in length resemble tiny buds. They are also covered with pile, which over time falls.
Sowing alfalfa (blue). Flexible grassy shoots branch more at the top. They grow to a height of 80 cm. The plant has a strong thickened rhizome. Oval or obovate leaves grow 1-2 cm long, 3-10 mm wide. On axillary peduncles collected capitate thick brushes 2-3 cm long. The flowers in them are painted in shades of blue or purple. Their length is 5-6 mm. Rolled like snails, beans reach a width of 6 mm.
Alfalfa is variable (hybrid). A perennial plant in the form of shrubs grows 70-120 cm in height. Strongly branched shoots are covered with small leaves on elongated petioles. They are oval or ovoid with a sparse pile on the underside. Cylindrical capitate inflorescences in the axils of the leaves are located on longer peduncles. The height of the loose brush is 3-5 cm. Petals are often variegated and painted in blue, purple or yellow. Larger beans are twisted into a spiral. They are covered with a light yellow or olive-brown skin.
Growing
Alfalfa is grown from seeds. They sow it immediately in the open ground in early spring, in the first days of sowing. Pre-dig the site, remove the weeds and add lime. Dry soil is additionally moistened. Before sowing, planting material is scarified and treated with biological products. The latter will create protection against bacterial and fungal infections. Seeds are sown in rows to a depth of 5-15 mm. Preliminary, it is recommended to mix them with sand or sawdust, so that the spread is more uniform.
Some gardeners practice sowing a mixture of alfalfa with other cereal crops, but in this case, the plant may suffer from a lack of lighting. Growth will slow, and the number of seeds will decrease. The maximum growth efficiency is achieved when sowing in sparse rows with a distance of up to 45 cm. In this case, the work of pollinators will be most effective.
For sowing large fields, special beet seeders are used. On a small plot of land you can scatter seeds manually, but why trample the surface with plywood. It is important to monitor the soil moisture and prevent it from drying out.
Alfalfa Care
Lucerne loves open, well-lit places. In the shade, it develops more slowly and forms a lower shoot. The soil for planting is desirable fertile and well-drained, with a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction. Loams are most suitable. On saline, rocky, or clay soils with close groundwater, alfalfa grows very poorly. Such conditions are unfavorable for the development of nodule bacteria.
Although alfalfa can tolerate short-term drought, it develops better with regular irrigation of the soil. Drying of the top layer of the earth is allowed. With excessive moisture, powdery mildew quickly develops. The greatest sensitivity to watering is manifested in the first year of plant life.
Alfalfa is a thermophilic crop. It grows best at a temperature of + 22 ... + 30 ° C, but is able to easily transfer heat to + 37 ... + 42 ° C. Some varieties winter successfully in frosts down to -25 ... -30 ° C.
Young plants need protection from weeds, so they are regularly weed and spud.
Alfalfa is regularly mowed to collect feed. For the first time this is done at the budding stage, and again at flowering. She tolerates the procedure quite easily and is ready to delight again with flowers after 1-1.5 months. To prevent overgrowth and lodging, horizontal cutting of the roots is practiced using special cultivators and plane cutters.
In rare cases, alfalfa is affected by fungal diseases. To combat them, Bordeaux fluid is used. The most annoying parasites include alfalfa weevil, alfalfa bedbug and parsnip. They are disposed of with the help of insecticides ("Benzophosphate", "Fastak").
Soil benefits
As alfalfa green manure is used in small private areas, as well as in field work in agriculture. It is considered an effective green fertilizer, because in just a year, plants give 8-10 mowing and grow a total of up to 120 t / ha of vegetation. In this case, the soil is well enriched with nitrogen compounds. At high humidity, biomass decomposes quickly, improving not only the composition, but also the structure of the soil. This reduces the acidity.
Feed plant
Alfalfa contains a lot of protein, as well as amino acids, phosphorus and potassium. This makes it a valuable feed crop for livestock (pigs, rabbits, poultry). Moreover, one should distinguish between the concept of nutritional value and the content of nutrients. If the greatest nutritional value is achieved at the budding stage, then the maximum amount of nutrients is contained in flowering alfalfa.
Mow vegetation up to a height of 8-10 cm. Then restoration of the green cover will be faster. Usually up to three mowings are done per year. The resulting raw materials are used fresh as a green top dressing, and also dried on hay, fodder briquettes, granules or grass (hay) flour are prepared.
Healing properties
Alfalfa has many beneficial properties. It is especially widely used in Chinese medicine. The composition of the plant includes many minerals and vitamins, as well as proteins, amino acids, isoflavonoids and phytohormones. For medicinal purposes, the ground part of the plant is used, which is collected during budding and flowering. The blanks are dried and stored in cloth bags. Decoctions and infusions are prepared from them. Juice from fresh alfalfa and sprouted seeds are popular as bioactive additives.
The use of these products helps to lower cholesterol, normalize the digestive tract, remove excess fluid from the body. Alfalfa is taken to fight diseases such as:
- diabetes;
- rheumatism;
- gout;
- hepatitis;
- hemorrhoids;
- erosion;
- periodontal disease;
- colpitis;
- endocrine system diseases.
Many people consider Lucerne to be a true healer, capable of strengthening her health and defeating even terrible ailments. It is actively recommended for women to normalize hormonal levels, increase lactation, as well as with uterine fibroids.
However, in any treatment it is important to know the measure and be careful. Even this plant has contraindications. First of all, caution should be exercised by people prone to allergies. In no case should you use alfalfa to people suffering from lupus erythematosus and poor blood coagulation. Alfalfa is not contraindicated for pregnant and lactating women, but you should consult your doctor before taking it.
