At what temperature to sow oats. Use of oats as green manure: sowing, growing. Optimal sowing time

In those days, when people were just mastering agriculture, oats were considered a weed, and only after some time this cereal was noticed.

More about culture

Oats are considered a young crop in agriculture. The first mention of this cereal was noted in the 4th century BC. People sowed oats on large plantations to feed horses, and then they themselves began to eat this healthy grain.

Currently, it is customary to grow 2 types of oats:

1. Sowing (variety "Avena Sativa").
2. Byzantine.

The first type of oats is widespread; almost 90% of fields are sown with this type of cereal crop.

There are many varieties of oats found in nature. You've probably heard of this species called sandy oats. It can also be grown in your summer cottage, but for this you must meet certain conditions. This type of grass thrives in sandy soils, hence the name. Sandy oats are native to the Mediterranean. This is the most ancient cultivated type of oat.

There are also many varieties of seeded oats, but these are mostly wild crops that can be found in nature. Each type of oat can be distinguished by its external characteristics. If you look closely at ordinary seeded oats, you will see that the “tongue” has teeth, but this plant does not have the “ears” characteristic of wild crops. The spikelets themselves are not so densely spaced, and if you thresh them even in a primitive way (by hand), they quickly divide into grains.

There are varieties of seeded oats: this is the bare grain form. The name itself speaks for itself - that the grains easily fall out of their scales.

Let's briefly look at the characteristics of Mediterranean (or Byzantine) oats. This type of cereal is mostly grown in Central Asia. The spikelets are large, with 3 or 4 flowers. This type of oat is highly resistant to cold and drought; the flowering and ripening period is short.

Oats are a persistent crop, so growing this cereal yourself on your own plot is a real pleasure. Seeds germinate already at a temperature of +3 o C, the seedlings are not afraid of frost and are able to withstand temperatures down to -5 o C. But this only applies to the appearance of the first shoots, but an adult plant can withstand high temperatures extremely negatively, in extreme heat (up to +40 o C), the plant dies.

Oats love moisture, so moist soils are perfect for sowing oats. By the way, any soil is suitable for growing oats; this crop does well on podzolic and sandy loam soil, and peat bogs. High yields can be achieved if you fertilize the soil with nitrogen fertilizers.

Preparing and sowing oats

Good predecessors for growing oats are potatoes, legumes, corn and winter crops. In agriculture, fields where beets were grown last year are often used for sowing oats. But this is most likely a necessity, because sugar beets dry out the soil greatly, and this cereal requires high humidity. After growing beets, it is best to plant corn in this place, and after harvesting, sowing oats is allowed.

If we are talking about mass sowing of oats, then it is necessary to plow the ground (depth 25 cm). If beets or corn were grown in this place before sowing cereals, then you need to do autumn plowing to get rid of beet aphids and other pests.

Before planting, it is advisable to fertilize the soil with phosphate rock to reduce its acidity. If the soil is peaty, then it is necessary to apply fertilizers containing manganese, boron and copper.

Only selected seeds are used for sowing oats. If you select planting material yourself, pay attention to the size of the upper and lower grains in the spikelet: the first ones will be larger, and they germinate faster. Choose seeds that are firm and have no visible signs of damage.

Before planting, the planting material must be kept in a manganese solution for 20 minutes to avoid contamination of the seedlings after sowing.

The timing of sowing oats is the same as planting spring crops - the end of April, while the soil is still moist. If you are planning to plant peas, barley and wheat, it’s time to start planting oats. If you are late with the deadlines by at least 10 days, the yield is reduced by 25%. Since oats are a grain crop, the cereal needs to be sown in a narrow row method: there are about 4.5-5.5 million seeds per 1 hectare. The depth of “wrapping” the seeds is small, since oat seeds are light (compared to wheat). On average, if the soil is well moistened, then embedding can be done to a depth of 4 cm, for light soils - 6 cm, for dry areas - 7 cm.

Harvesting

Growing oats is not a difficult task, since the crop ripens quickly and after approximately 120 days from planting, you can begin harvesting. As mentioned earlier, it is only important not to miss the timing of sowing seeds so as not to lose yield.

To ensure normal development, it is necessary to moisten the soil in a timely manner. If this is not done, then the losses will be significant. In order to make the task easier, it is necessary to install an irrigation system on the site and, in hot weather, constantly monitor the level of soil moisture. If you have time, you need to loosen the soil.

If you adhere to the technology of growing oats, then in order to speed up the ripening time of the cereal, it is necessary to roll the soil. In this way, you can get rid of not only the crust formed on the surface (harrowing), but also remove the plugs after the first shoots appear (thinning, getting rid of weeds).

Oats are an interesting crop; be prepared for the fact that you will not see smooth ripening. First, the first upper grains (the upper part of the panicle) will ripen, and then gradually the remaining grains will ripen.

Harvesting must be done after the grains have fully ripened, when most of them have reached “waxy” maturity. Harvesting at a summer cottage is done manually, cutting off the spikelets, which are then preferably tied into separate sheaves. The harvest should be stored in a well-ventilated area. After final drying, the spikelets can be threshed, and the resulting harvest can be used for its intended purpose.

How to grow oats on a windowsill

You can germinate oat seeds at home. This product is rich in nutrients. Back in the Middle Ages, people cooked jelly and porridge from sprouted seeds. Currently, the benefits of young oat sprouts have been proven, but it is almost impossible to buy this product, since the fragile sprouts do not tolerate transportation well and quickly deteriorate. The only correct solution is to grow your own oats.

The benefits of sprouted oats are enormous: it not only improves well-being, but also gets rid of most problems of the digestive system (stomach, intestines), blood-forming organs, and accelerates metabolism.

If you have grown oats yourself on your site, then you need to select ripe and clean seeds without signs of rot or fungus. After preparation, you can immediately begin germinating oat seeds.

To germinate seeds you will need:

• water;
• capacity;
• gauze.

In addition, it is necessary to provide good lighting and maintain temperature conditions. Once again, before putting the seeds in the container, check each cereal: if you notice spoiled or damaged seeds, they should be put aside.

Place selected seeds in a container, it can be a glass or porcelain bowl (you can take a cup), enamel dishes are also allowed to be used, but aluminum ones are not.

First, prepare the seeds: place a handful of oats in a sieve, place under running water to thoroughly rinse the seeds. After washing, you need to place the cereals in a prepared clean container and fill with water (2 cm above the seeds). Leave the container for 8 hours. During this time, the seeds will take up to 60% moisture. Drain the water and rinse the seeds again under running cool water. You will see that the seeds have increased, that is, they have swollen.

Now you need to straighten the wet gauze (you can fold it in several layers), put the seeds in 1 layer, and cover them with gauze on top. You can use a regular piece of clean fabric. Place the container in a warm and well-lit place; a warm windowsill will do. The temperature in this place should not be lower than +22 o C. Make sure that direct sunlight does not fall on the seeds.

After 8 hours, the first sprouts will appear, they can be washed and eaten. Attention: it is allowed to eat only sprouts that have reached a size of 2-6 mm; if the sprouts are long and green, then you cannot eat them, as they are poisonous.

The sprouts need to be placed in the refrigerator, where they will continue to grow. Although not so fast. Do not throw away the drained water; it can be used to water indoor crops.

When is the best time to eat sprouted oats? Experts recommend eating oat sprouts in the first half of the day. Since such grains contain a lot of protein, it is not advisable to eat nuts and protein products (fish, cottage cheese, meat and eggs) along with oats.

How to Grow Oats for Pets

During the cold season, please your pets (rabbits, dogs, parrots, guinea pigs and cats) with a tasty and healthy treat - young oats. Growing oats at home for pets is easy and even interesting.

What you will need:

• selected seeds of unhulled oats;
• container with low sides;
• water;
• sawdust.

How to grow oats on a windowsill:

1. Take a suitable container, it should be dry and clean. You can use a plastic tray for growing seedlings with low sides.
2. Pour small sawdust (without additives) into the tray. The layer of sawdust should not be too thick, in order to place 2 more layers: oats and sawdust.
3. Use your hands to compact the sawdust.
4. Now we sow oats, the layer thickness is 1 cm.
5. We level the grains with our hands, pour a layer of sawdust on top (thickness no more than 1.5 cm).
6. We level the sawdust with our hands to distribute the shavings evenly.
7. We prepare the water, it should not be hot, but not warm either, the optimal temperature is +38 o C. If you have poured a lot of water, the excess needs to be drained.
8. Compact the top layer and go around the edges of the container.

Oats need to be watered every day, but not too much to prevent mold from appearing. In a day the first shoots will appear, and after 2-3 days - green shoots. You can treat animals with healthy grass.

Whatever the soil of the garden plot, it becomes depleted over time and needs to be increased in fertility. One method of increasing fertility is after harvesting immediately in the fall or spring.

This method involves sowing crops that allow rapid growth of green mass and have a powerful root system. Green manure can improve the structure of the soil and enrich it with macro and microelements no worse than mineral fertilizers.

Let's consider oats, as green manure, before winter. What it gives and what vegetable crops are best to use it for – this is what the article is about.

"Country Hobbies"

The importance of green manure in agriculture

The following industrial crops are used as green manure:

• mustard, oilseed radish, spring and winter rape (cruciferous family);
• oats, rye, wheat, barley (cereals);
• clover, peas, alfalfa, vetch, lupine (legumes);
• buckwheat and others.

All these plants, sown as green manure, are embedded in the soil before flowering. During this period, the green mass contains the maximum amount of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and will greatly benefit beneficial soil microorganisms. A highly branched root system will loosen the soil, also protect it from being blown away by strong winds and suppress the growth of weeds.

Oats as green manure, when to sow

Oats, as green manure, have been used by farmers for a long time. It is valued for its positive qualities:

• it, or rather its green mass, contains a large amount of valuable protein, potassium, phosphorus, but in terms of nitrogen it is inferior to rye and wheat;
• green manure processes phosphorus compounds that are complex and inaccessible to most plants well;
• powerful, highly branched roots loosen the soil well, supplying it with oxygen, while at the same time strengthening unstable loose soils, restraining their erosion;
• high crop yields provide the soil with a mass equivalent to 100 kg of high-quality manure;
• dense and rapid germination of oats and its strong root system do not allow weeds to grow;
• oats are perfectly compatible with many crops, except, perhaps, cereals and potatoes, which have a common pest with green manure - wireworms;
• the unpretentiousness and undemanding nature of the cereal allows it to be grown on almost any soil, even poor soil; in addition, growing oats does not cause difficulties even for beginners in farming;
• oats are resistant to shade and cold;
• low cost makes it accessible to all segments of summer residents.

The disadvantages include:

• small green mass and low nitrogen content in it, so most often a mixture of cereals with vetch, clover or alfalfa is used;
• poor heat tolerance and the need for frequent watering.

Oats, as green manure, before winter

Optimal sowing time

Oats are cold-resistant and love moisture. Therefore, it is better to sow it in the fall in the damp time of September-October. The grass does not tolerate frost, so it is necessary to sow 30-40 days before the onset of sub-zero temperatures. During this time, the green manure grows well and gains decent green mass, and under the snow it manages to rot and become an excellent fertilizer.

In warm areas, spring sowing is done in February-March so that the grain can grow within a month, then it is buried in order to then plant vegetable crops.

Features of use

As mentioned earlier, you cannot sow oats before cereals: rye, barley, wheat, and also before planting potatoes due to the common enemy wireworm. But after harvesting the potatoes, it is recommended to sow oats, as it will help destroy the causative agents of potato scab. Before sowing cereal crops, it is advisable to use mustard, lupine, phacelia, and buckwheat as green manure.

Oats, as green manure, are suitable for planting any variety of peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, currant bushes, raspberries, strawberries, wild strawberries.

After oats, it is good to plant cucumbers; their yield increases. ?

Sowing oats

Before sowing, seeds are soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate for 20-25 minutes, preferably wrapped in cloth (gauze), then they are washed in running water.

Before sowing, the soil must be removed all plant debris and loosened to provide air to the seeds and seedlings.

If the soil is dry, it is better to water it with a hose with a sprayer so as not to compact the soil. Sowing is done in a random scattered manner, preferably thicker and without gaps. The sowing rate is 2 kg of seeds per hundred square meters. Then the seeds must be buried to a depth of no more than 2 cm with a rake.

Planting care

An important condition for obtaining good green manure is timely watering. If the seedlings are weak, it is worth feeding them a little with mineral fertilizers (saltpeter). This indicates depleted land.

Plantings need to be mowed when panicles appear. When sowing in autumn, the mowed green manure is planted in the ground in early spring so that the ground beneath it freezes less and warms up faster in the spring.
(by card, from cell phone, Yandex money - select the one you need)

Thank you!

I invite you to the group on Subscribe.ru for summer residents and gardeners: “Country hobbies” Everything about country life: dacha, garden, vegetable garden, flowers, relaxation, fishing, hunting, tourism, nature

Winter green manures are in reasonable demand in our country, and sowing them in late autumn allows you to quickly and effectively replenish the supply of nutrients in the soil. Quite often, green manure cereals are sown before winter, among which rye, barley and oats are of increased interest to gardeners.

When and why to sow green manure

But it is best to sow this type of green manure if it is necessary to structure and carry out high-quality soil improvement, as well as suppress the rapid growth of weeds. Properly carried out green manure deeply loosens and fertilizes the soil, protects the soil from leaching of nutrients and minerals, and also helps enrich the soil with nitrogen-containing components due to the presence of nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

Among other things, properly selected green manure plants become indispensable assistants in the prevention of the most common and harmful diseases and contribute to a significant reduction in the number of soil pests dangerous to garden crops. It is also possible to use green manure for mulching in order to protect against late frosts and preserve soil moisture.

Better rye or oats

In fact, at present there are no absolutely ideal and universal green manure plants, and such natural green fertilizers should be selected very individually for different plantings and depending on the type of soil. Cereal green manures belong to the category of highly effective soil improvers, but when choosing, you must take into account their botanical characteristics.

Winter green manure	Peculiarities	Purpose	Soils	Consumption rate
Oats	The plant has sufficient cold resistance and can be planted after harvesting early vegetable crops, which will allow mowing before the first hard frost.	For areas where crops need high potassium levels, including tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.	Acidic or peaty, with a risk of plant damage to root rot	1.3-1.8 kg per hundred square meters with harvesting before the mass flowering stage
Rye	One of the most frost-resistant green manures, most often used for winter sowing.	For such garden crops as zucchini, pumpkin, cucumbers, tomatoes, late cabbage.	Any type of soil, including virgin soil, prone to waterlogging	2 kg per hundred square meters with mowing a couple of weeks before planting the main crop

Therefore, it should be taken into account that rye is most often used as green manure, helping to inhibit the growth of weeds, as well as the destruction of pathogens of fungal infections and nematodes. The root system of rye perfectly loosens even heavy soils, but provokes drying out of the upper layers of the soil.

It is advisable to sow oats as an optimal soil loosener, as well as to prevent damage to garden crops by root rot. The greatest effectiveness of oats is observed when it is combined in crops with vetch.

Oats: sowing in autumn (video)

Sowing rules

The presence of a powerful and fibrous root system in cereal green manure allows plants to loosen the soil very well, which is especially important on clay soils. Proper sowing will help suppress the development of weeds, destroy root rot pathogens, and repel nematodes. It is cereals that are considered the best winter green manure for plots intended for growing pumpkin crops, and sowing them in home gardening is not difficult:

• It is advisable to carry out autumn soil preparation using oats or an oat-vik mixture as early as possible, immediately after harvesting the main garden crop;
• For high-quality swelling and germination, oat seeds need a sufficiently high amount of soil moisture, and when sown in too dry soil, seedlings may not appear at all;

• Oat seeds, at a favorable level of humidity, germinate quickly enough even when temperatures drop to 1-2 o C;
• sowing work can be carried out either in a row or randomly, but it is advisable to give preference to the second sowing option, which will allow you to obtain the optimal planting density of green manure crops and a sufficient amount of green mass of the plant;
• Experienced gardeners recommend that before sowing, treat the planting material in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate for a quarter of an hour, then rinse in cool running water;
• broadcast sowing requires the use of a significant amount of seed material, while oat seeds must be scattered as evenly as possible, followed by embedding into the soil using the back of a garden rake;
• The standard seed placement depth is about 3-4 cm.

It should be noted that during the dry autumn period, it is necessary to thoroughly water the soil before sowing. The green mass of green manure crops should be mowed and incorporated into the soil about a couple of weeks before the onset of severe frost. Too much harvest of the above-ground part of oats can be put into compost.

As a rule, in the last ten days of August, and even more so in the first autumn months, there is no point in sowing oats and it is best to replace this green manure with winter rye, the sowing of which in the central zone of our country can be started just in the last ten days of August. Exactly rye has time to bloom very well before the onset of winter frosts, and in the early spring, after the snow melts and the soil thaws, it continues to actively accumulate green mass and expand the root system.

Benefits of fertilizer

Oats are sown in home gardening and vegetable gardening quite often, since This The green manure plant has a large number of positive qualities, among which the following should be highlighted:

• fairly low cost of green manure seed material, as well as the possibility of purchasing both at specialized sales points and from small farmers or at agricultural markets;
• the ability to saturate the soil layers with fairly well-absorbed potassium, necessary for the growth and development of basic garden crops;
• the presence of a special substance in the root system of green manure, which quite effectively prevents the occurrence of dangerous diseases such as root rot;
• when combining oat crops with legumes, for example in the form of a vetch-oat mixture, it is possible to saturate the soil not only with potassium, but also with nitrogen-containing components;
• the presence of a fibrous root system in oats makes it possible to well loosen the soil in the upper, most fertile layer;
• the ability of oats to strengthen and protect light soils on the site from weathering or washing out, giving them a more breathable and loose structure.

When to sow green manure (video)

Among other things, along with other popular winter cereal crops, oats quickly suppress the growth of weeds, and are also excellent as a predecessor plant for almost any main garden crop, except corn.

Reviews and comments

(7 ratings, average: 4,71 out of 5)

Mari28 11/15/2017

Irina, any green manure is good in its own way, but in order to get the maximum benefit, it is better to choose according to the properties of individual species. If you haven’t planted anything on your plot yet, then rye, mustard, and barley are best suited for weed control. You can also plant non-cereal green manures. For example, phacelia universal green manure is suitable for any soil. It enriches the soil well and after it you can plant any fruit crop. Remember, in the year of green manure ripening, the soil is not dug up. The green mass is cut off, the roots are left in the soil, they rot very quickly, thereby further enriching the soil with microelements.

Add a comment

Good afternoon, dear friends!

Summer residents who use the principles of organic farming on their plots have long adopted the method of green manure. Planting various crops in areas of the dacha that are temporarily free from main crops, followed by embedding the vegetative mass into the soil is a proven, effective and very inexpensive way to maintain soil fertility.

Let's talk about why, when and how sow oats as green manure for winter and about the benefits of this method of soil enrichment.

Green manure can be sown at any time, except, of course, winter. Most often, gardeners practice winter sowing of ground cover crops, which is carried out after harvesting in the fall. In a short period of warmth, they manage to collect a sufficient amount of greenery, which is left under the snow, and in early spring they are plowed into the ground simultaneously with the planned digging and preparation of the beds for sowing.

This practice makes it possible to almost completely restore the balance of nutrients in the soil carried out by plants during the previous season and prepare the plantation to receive new vegetable, berry, fruit and ornamental crops in the future. One of the most beloved green manures by all gardeners, intended for autumn sowing, is winter oats.

The benefits of winter oats for the garden

Cereal crops in a short time (up to 60 days) give an excellent increase in greenery (up to 200 kg/acre), which allows the summer resident to fully replace the traditional autumn and spring application of organic matter (humus, manure, compost, bird droppings) and mineral compounds (ammonium nitrate, superphosphate, potassium salt, nitroammophoska, etc.).

In addition, oats are considered a universal precursor for all cultivated plants, except cereals, and, as a rule, this type of agricultural product is grown extremely rarely in private gardens. It should also be noted that green manure with oats is budget-friendly. The consumption of planting material is 2-2.5 kg per hundred square meters, and its price is affordable for every vegetable grower.

Advantages of sowing oats as green manure before winter

1. Soil cleansing. Oats are classified as phytosanitary. Phytoncides, essential oils and other biologically active compounds secreted by the root system of green manure into the soil, suppress the growth of perennial weeds (wheatgrass, sow thistle), clear the soil of nematodes, which is especially useful before or after cultivating potatoes.

2. High yield. Planted seeds germinate at temperatures from +2°C. The seedlings perfectly tolerate small soil frosts down to -4... -5 °C, continuing the growing season until the steady onset of cold weather, which allows plants sown no later than the end of September (for the middle zone) to gain the required volume of greenery.

3. Protection of soil from erosion and freezing. Green oats left on the plot for the winter retain snow on the beds, helping to retain additional moisture in the spring. Ground cover plants prevent weathering and erosion of the top fertile layer of soil, as well as the leaching of nutrients on light soils during the period of heavy autumn rainfall and spring snowmelt.

4. Soil structuring. The erect, fibrous root system penetrates into deep soil horizons (up to 2 meters) in a few weeks, qualitatively loosening the soil and increasing its porosity. In addition, the rhizomes are adapted for extracting poorly soluble phosphorus and potassium salts from the lower layers of the earth and converting them into compounds accessible to cultivated plants.

5. Decomposition rate. The roots and greens of oats rot very quickly, releasing all their nutritional components into the soil. At least 2 weeks must pass before the main crop is planted in the garden after the vegetative mass of winter oats has been planted. Spring digging after sowing oats as green manure before winter can be carried out immediately after the snow melts and the top layer of soil warms up, plowing the greens to a depth of 3-5 cm, or you can postpone the event to a later date, closer to planting work.

Plowing green oats enriches the soil with vermicompost, which creates favorable conditions for the development of beneficial soil microflora. Green manure saturates the soil with easily accessible potassium and phosphorus compounds. If it is necessary to comprehensively add all nutrients before planting vegetables, winter oats are combined with legume green manures rich in nitrogen substances, for example, peas, beans, beans. Such mixtures improve soil fertility by 100% and are a complete organic fertilizer.

Have a good harvest! See you again!

Oats with long roots are able to loosen and structure the soil well, its dense plantings suppress weeds and suppress their growth, root secretions repel pests, and cold resistance allows the crop to be sown both in early spring and autumn.

These qualities make it possible to use cereal for the general improvement of fertile soil over a wide range of time.

When you need to sow oats as green manure in the fall, so that it has time to gain green mass, restore the soil structure and replenish the area with nutrients, information about this is below.

What is the value of oats as green manure?

This cereal crop is considered the best predecessor: the roots of oats loosen the soil, making it lighter and more breathable. This prevents the development of root rot, from which cucumbers suffer in unfavorable weather. Loose soil allows the tap roots of the cucumber to penetrate deeper into the soil to seek moisture and nutrition.

Oats are also a valuable precursor for other crops that do not belong to the cereal family. A green mass harvest sown on 2.5 acres is equivalent to 500 kg.

Characteristics with which oats can attract the attention of gardeners:

It is important for the gardener to know that oats do not like heat and should not be planted in late spring or summer.

Autumn timing of sowing oats without embedding in the soil

When to sow oats as green manure in the fall? Its sowing can begin immediately after harvesting the main crops, until the soil is dried out by the wind or clogged with rain. Planted at such a time, the cereal has time to grow a sufficient mass of green shoots.

Before the onset of cold weather, you can do the following:

• mow the oats and lightly work them into the ground;
• When mowing, leave the greens on the surface like;
• if there are no ears of corn, the oats remain uncut, gradually rotting over the winter.

By leaving the mown grass on the surface as a soil protective layer, the vegetable grower prevents the destruction of the top layer of soil by natural forces (water and wind) and its drying out. In the spring, all that remains is to loosen the beds and plant early vegetables or.

It is not worth sowing oats as green manure in the fall too late; Unlike rye, it does not like frost and is not suitable for winter planting.

How to sow and care for oats?

If the areas are large, it is better to sow using a fan method; in small areas, we can use the row method. The plot should be loosened and free of weeds. The seeds must be buried in the soil; to do this, the area will have to be harrowed.

Oats germinate and grow quickly in a humid environment, so if seasonal rains are not enough, you will need to organize 3-4 waterings.

Oats are less demanding than oats; they will grow well in peat bogs, clay soils, and areas with high acidity.

Spring sowing dates for oats as green manure

When to sow oats as green manure in the spring, given its cold resistance and early ripening? As soon as the soil warms up slightly and allows you to go into the garden, you can start sowing. There is no need to wait for the soil to dry out, given that oats are moisture-loving.

Early spring is the most optimal time for planting oats. If it is necessary to speed up ripening, experienced gardeners mow the grain when it reaches 10-15 cm and thus stimulate further active growth and increase the amount of green mass produced.

When the heading phase begins, oats can be cut; during this period, their greens accumulate the greatest amount of nutrients. After mowing, the mass remains on the soil as a mulch layer. To speed up fermentation, green manure is mixed with soil or treated with preparations of effective microorganisms.

You can sow oats in the spring as green manure at a later date, but the time must be calculated so that it has time to grow before the onset of heat. It is not necessary to wait for the oats to spike; they can be mowed at a height of 20 cm and lightly plowed into the ground. If cut greenery is buried deeply, due to lack of oxygen it will begin to turn sour, which will harm the soil.

Between the periods of incorporating green manure into the soil and planting a garden crop, 2 to 3 weeks should pass so that the stems have time to begin the decomposition process.

VIDEO: about oats as green manure

Find out more about how exactly oats are used as green manure in the fields: