Can you suggest a good cover crop to help us to prepare the soil for future planting?
Cover crops are an alternative way to manage soil fertility in agricultural systems; they can be a living mulch or incorporated into the soil as a green manure. Sometimes one crop can cover multiple needs.
This document links you to useful information on cover crops in Hawaii, listing potential crops to grow.
The Hawaii Cover Crop Handbook – Oahu Resource Conservation and Development Council (oahurcd.org)
In 2001, Oahu RC&D produced a Cover Crop Handbook that featured information on three of the most common cover crop species used in Hawaii at that time: oats, buckwheat and sunn hemp. In the past eight years, cover crop use has increased dramatically, and producers are seeking ways to maximize the benefits of cover cropping. One way to achieve this is by utilizing multi-species plantings (aka Cover Crop Cocktails).
On this webpage, you will be provided “nuts and bolts” know-how that will get you onboard with cover cropping. If you’re new to cover cropping, we encourage you to start by reviewing Cover Crop Handbook, and the guidelines it contains for implementation of a sunn hemp, buckwheat, and black oats cover crop mix
Cover-Crop-Handbook-Final_Oct-20111.pdf (oahurcd.org)
Here’s a link to information regarding cover crops in Florida, which has similar issues as we have here on Maui
Cover Crops – UF/IFAS Extension (ufl.edu)
1235-12.22.22 TF
