A New Star in Living Mulch Cultivation / Heartleaf Water Mint | Its unique fragrance repels pests and increases soil organic matter by 1.32% per year

Sod culture can protect the soil and has drawn close attention in recent years. Research by the Taichung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station (hereafter "Taichung Station") found that "heartleaf water mint" (also called heartleaf bog mint / wild mint, Mentha aquatica) has a distinctive mint fragrance that can suppress pests that dislike the plant's scent, while also attracting carnivorous insects such as seven-spot ladybirds and spiders to protect farmland; it also grows quickly and can suppress other grasses. At present no farmers are cultivating it, and those who need seed grass can contact the Soil and Fertilizer Research Laboratory of Taichung Station.

Guava farmer Hsu Ming-kung, who grows a similar grass species, said he has trial-planted a mint grass species on his farmland; it can indeed repel pests, and the farmland carries a faint mint fragrance.

Heartleaf water mint can increase soil organic matter by 1.32% a year

Kuo Ya-wen said that sod culture can reduce the amount of manual weeding work and can even maintain soil organic matter content. Under normal conditions, fruit farmers in summer must weed once every 3-4 weeks, and once every 5-6 weeks in winter, but if sod culture is used, weeding is not even required once a year, with no other follow-up problems. Kuo Ya-wen also said that in terms of increasing soil organic matter content, heartleaf water mint can increase soil organic matter by 1.32% a year, while fly-wing grass increases it by 0.8%.

Farmers: Sod culture clearly helps fruit trees

Hsu Ming-kung said that the previous generation was used to using herbicides, which caused great harm to farmland and crops. He learned about sod culture while visiting other people's orchards, and so began planting it himself. At present he is trial-planting one mint grass species over an area of roughly less than one fen (about 0.097 hectares). It can indeed drive away pests, but does it have a clear effect on the soil? Hsu Ming-kung said that a large-scale planting may be needed for a clear effect, and he has already begun planning it. Hsu said sod culture is friendly to the soil and also helps fruit trees.

Top-grafted pear farmer Lai Yung-chin said he has not planted other grass species separately, but when weeding he always leaves 30 cm. Lai Yung-chin explained that in actual tests of land temperature, the temperature difference between land with weeds and land without weeds is large. Under sunlight exposure, if the grass is completely removed, land temperature becomes higher, causing fruit tree fruit to ripen early, but if weeds are present they can regulate temperature so it does not get too high. And in the rainy season, weeds absorb and drain water; if there were no weeds to help, fruit trees would absorb too much water, causing fruit sweetness to decline.

(This article was sponsored by the Chien-Chun Environmental Education Foundation for personnel expenses, but it completely does not interfere with news topic selection or interview writing, ensuring news independence.)