Does anyone here have experience with green manures/ cover crops/intercropping among coffee? I’m especially interestef in 1) weed control and 2) soil improvement. I am in Honduras living at 1400m elevation.
I have some plots in which the rows are just far enough apart to allow weeds to proliferate.
I have tried both Jack Bean (canavalia) and Velvet Bean (mucuna) but find them to grow too slowly initially to smother the weeds, and of course the velvet bean presents an intertwining, climbing challenge.
I am currently experimenting with buckwheat in the more open areas and want to see what impact it has on the coffee plants.
I would love to hear from anyone with some experience to share.
Can you get a bush type of velvet bean? Also I highly recommend you do the “kitchen sink” approach with a mixture and let the plants sort it out and you will get the best ground cover. Some years you might have wide differences in rainfall so the mix approach may serve your need with each species performing differently every year. Throw Lablab in the mix but it could be a slow start. Also you need to consider slashing back the upper layer of the canopy which suppresses weeds and encourages the smoother crop and weed wiping with glyphosate anything that emerges above the canopy during establishment. You can make your own weed wiper and they work great as long as they don’t drip. The best ones have a control flow valve so that you don’t get excessive amount in your weed wiper. Perhaps some small quantity of liequid soap in the mix might cause it to leak less.
You might consider mombasa grass as a perennial option. Once established, no weeds will grow, unless you drive a heavy tractor over the grass, in which case soil compaction can lead to it’s demise.
Plus you can periodically cut the mombasa and arrange the mulch around the coffee. It will improve the soil conditions dramatically.
But I guess it depends on the spacing between tree rows. If they are too close, the grass can die.
Perennial peanut (Arachis glabrata Benth)
Google: coffee cover crops
lots of good information from Hawaii, Nicaragua, …