Ornithopus sativus
Serradella
Common names: Large Bird's Foot, Serradelle
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below −8 °C
- Water need
- Low
Photo: Rasbak · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Serradella is a delicate leguminous plant that thrives on light, acidic sandy soils where other green manures fail. It fixes atmospheric nitrogen through its root nodules and develops a fine, even root system that covers the upper soil layer. It tolerates summer drought remarkably well and also provides good forage.
Care instructions
Sow Serradella from April to June (week 14 to 26) on a light, slightly acidic soil, pressing the seeds firmly after planting. Cut back the stand at flowering (August, week 32) and incorporate it into the soil to retain the fixed nitrogen.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingApr–Jun
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 8 °C, ideally 15 °C
- Days to sprout
- 7 to 14 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 1.5 cm
- How to start
- Sow straight into the bed
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
sandy, well-drained, lean, humus-rich, lime-avoiding
Serradella is the classic sandy-soil plant: it thrives on light, free-draining, lean, humus-poor sandy soils that would be too acidic or too poor in nutrients for most other legumes. It avoids lime and needs a distinctly acidic soil (pH 4.5–6.5); do not lime before sowing. It does not tolerate waterlogging or heavy, chalky clay soils; loosen the soil before sowing in spring only shallowly.
Feeding
Light feeder
Months
Mar–Apr
As a legume, serradella fixes nitrogen from the air through nodule bacteria on its roots and largely supplies itself; nitrogen feeding is counterproductive and inhibits nodule formation. On very depleted sandy soils you can work a little mature compost in shallowly before sowing in spring, to secure the basic supply of phosphorus and potassium. Leave out nitrogen-rich organic fertilisers. If you work the green mass in later, it improves the soil itself for the following crop.
Overwintering
Serradella is annual and dies back completely with the first lasting frost in autumn. You do not need to dig anything up or protect it. Leave the dead plant mass lying as mulch or work it in as green manure in spring, and sow anew after the last frosts.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
Serradella is annual and is propagated exclusively by sowing. It forms no vegetative perennating organs, so there is no division, no cuttings, no layering and no runners. Sow directly outdoors from mid-March to mid-August, as soon as the soil temperature is at least 8 °C. Put the seeds only 1 to 2 cm deep in well-loosened, sandy to sandy-loamy, slightly acidic soil (pH about 4.5 to 6), no deeper, because serradella needs light to germinate and prefers a shallow seedbed. It likes low-lime, rather lean sites in full sun and struggles on heavy, loamy soils. For green manure in the home garden, scatter the seed evenly broadcast (a small handful per square metre is enough) and rake it in only lightly. As a catch crop after harvesting the main crop, sowing still works until mid-August. Through the nodule bacteria on its roots, the plant fixes nitrogen from the air and enriches the soil: let it die off before the first frost and work the biomass in in spring, or chop and dig it in shortly before flowering, when the plant mass is greatest. To collect your own seed, let a few plants ripen fully: when ripe, the pods break up into individual, constricted segments, which you collect and store dry and cool.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
cabbage family (Brassicaceae)
particularly well establishedLeguminous plants collect nitrogen in the soil, from which Brassicaceae benefit as heavy feeders.
For example White cabbageKohlrabiRadishKalebroccolicauliflower and 41 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
carrot family (Apiaceae)
Peas and beans provide carrot and celery with nitrogen and grow as shallow-rooted plants without competition next to each other.
For example CarrotCeleriacDillParsleyFlorence fennelCoriander and 21 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
Rather not
amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae)
particularly well establishedAllium species inhibit the nitrogen‑fixing rhizobia of legumes through their root exudates, which slows their growth.
For example GarlicOnionLeekChivesWild daffodilRocambole and 12 more species in the catalogue
Source: basic crop‑rotation rule
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Serradella yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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