Warm Season Green Manure Seeds

Warm Season Green Manure Cover Crop Seeds

Warm Season Cover Crop Mix is a summer green manure seed blend designed to improve soil structure, add organic matter, suppress weeds, support beneficial insects, and build healthier soil during the warmer months. This diverse mix combines fast-growing legumes, grasses, broadleaf cover crops, and brassicas for strong seasonal growth and soil improvement.

Legumes such as cowpea, lablab, sunn hemp and butterfly pea can support nitrogen fixation when compatible rhizobia are present. Millet and buckwheat provide fast ground cover and biomass, while brassicas such as Ethiopian cabbage and turnip help with root activity, nutrient cycling and soil conditioning. This mix is ideal for vegetable gardens, orchards, market gardens, paddocks, food forests and regenerative farming systems.

• Warm-season green manure and summer cover crop mix.
• Includes legumes, grasses, brassicas and fast-growing soil-building species.
• Helps build organic matter, suppress weeds and protect bare soil.
• Legumes support nitrogen fixation when compatible rhizobia are present.
• Deep-rooted and fibrous-rooted species help improve soil structure and water infiltration.
• Suitable for gardens, orchards, food forests, market gardens and larger growing areas.
• Best suited to subtropical, tropical, warm temperate and irrigated summer conditions.

Blend Contains

• Legumes: Cowpea, Lablab, Sunn Hemp and Butterfly Pea for nitrogen fixation potential, leafy biomass and soil fertility.
• Grasses & Fast Biomass Crops: Millet and Buckwheat for quick ground cover, weed suppression and organic matter.
• Brassicas: Ethiopian Cabbage and Turnip for root activity, nutrient cycling and soil conditioning.

Plant Details

• Mix Type: Warm-season green manure and cover crop seed mix
• Plant Types: Annual legumes, grasses, brassicas and broadleaf cover crop species
• Main Uses: Soil improvement, organic matter, nitrogen fixation, weed suppression, erosion control and summer cover cropping
• Growth Habit: Mixed upright, trailing, leafy, fibrous-rooted and taprooted species
• Best Position: Full sun
• Coverage: Approx. 100–250 m² per kg depending on sowing rate and site conditions

Best Uses

• Summer green manure
• Warm-season cover cropping
• Vegetable garden soil improvement
• Orchard and food forest inter-rows
• Weed suppression and erosion control
• Organic matter and soil carbon building
• Crop rotation and fallow bed improvement
• No-dig chop-and-drop mulch
• Regenerative farming and market garden systems

Mix Benefits

Sowing Information

• Best Sowing Time: Spring to summer once soil is warm and frost risk has passed
• Germination Time: Approximately 5–14 days depending on species, soil temperature and moisture
• Sowing Depth: 10–20 mm; avoid burying small seeds too deeply
• Position: Full sun
• Soil Type: Suitable for most prepared soils; performs best in warm, well-drained soil with good seed-to-soil contact
• Watering: Keep moist during germination and establishment; irrigate during dry spells for best biomass
• Sow Where: Garden beds, orchards, food forests, paddocks, inter-rows, market gardens and fallow areas
• Inoculation: Legume components may benefit from suitable warm-season legume inoculant for stronger nitrogen fixation.

Sowing Rate and Coverage

Seed Quantity Guide

Coverage is a guide only. Use higher rates for faster cover, stronger weed suppression, poor seedbeds, exposed sites, slopes or areas with bird pressure.

When to Sow Warm Season Cover Crop Mix in Australia

How to Sow Warm Season Cover Crop Mix

1. Choose a sunny position with warm, prepared soil.
2. Remove weeds and create a fine, firm seedbed.
3. Broadcast seed evenly at the recommended sowing rate.
4. Lightly rake or cover seed with approximately 10–20 mm of soil.
5. Press or roll gently for good seed-to-soil contact.
6. Water gently and keep moist until seedlings are established.
7. Allow the crop to grow until useful biomass has formed before cutting or incorporation.

Management

• Keep soil moist during germination and early growth.
• Irrigate during dry periods for stronger biomass and faster canopy closure.
• Cut before heavy seed set if volunteer plants are not wanted.
• Allow flowering if beneficial insect and pollinator support is desired.
• Mow, slash or crimp before planting the next crop.
• Leave chopped material as surface mulch in no-dig systems.
• Allow 2–6 weeks for residues to break down before planting the next crop.

Harvest and Incorporation

For green manure use, mow or chop the mix when good biomass has developed or before heavy seed set. Incorporate the material into the soil 2–6 weeks before planting the next crop, or leave the cut material on the surface as mulch in no-dig systems. Cutting earlier produces softer biomass that breaks down quickly, while later cutting provides more bulk and longer-lasting mulch.

Soil Benefits and Use

Warm Season Cover Crop Mix helps protect and improve soil through living roots, organic matter, nitrogen fixation potential, fast biomass and plant diversity. It is particularly useful after winter crops, during summer fallow periods, under orchard rows, between vegetable rotations and in regenerative systems where soil cover is needed during hot weather.

Important Notes

• This is a warm-season mix and should be sown into warm soil after frost risk has passed.
• Only the legume components fix nitrogen, and nitrogen fixation is strongest when compatible rhizobia are present.
• Species performance will vary depending on climate, rainfall, soil type, sowing time and management.
• Cut before seed set if self-sown plants are not wanted.
• Use higher sowing rates where fast cover or weed suppression is important.
• Not all species in the mix will perform equally in every climate or sowing window.

Quick Growing Guide