Competent farming is a whole science. Buying a large plot of land and planting some kind of crop on it does not at all mean getting a good harvest and earning a lot of money. In the agro-industrial complex, every little detail and detail is important, because agricultural crops require a special approach and care, and the land, which gives them nutrients for growth and development, needs processing no less than living crops.

If you are the proud owner of a plot of land, no matter how big or small, and regularly plant something on it, the following information is for you. needs constant enrichment, because it can become exhausted and lose its fertility. There are artificial methods, and there are plants that can rid the top layer of soil and improve its mineral composition. Such plants include oats, which are familiar to all of us. Let's find out in more detail how oats can help, when and how they should be sown as - or, and what to do with the grown plants.

Why sow green manure?

They are not grown for food or for sale. These are plants with a special chemical composition that can restore what has been depleted by other plants and prepare it for the next harvest season. They are not collected or prepared.

Such plants plowed into the ground shortly before they begin to bloom- when the green stems contain the most other important elements.

Important! A crop like this dries out greatly during growth, so using oats as green manure after sowing will not work - it will either take up too much water during or dry out before it blooms. But it is very profitable to sow it before- the stems of this plant are juicy, nutritious and retain moisture in the soil.

Their stems quickly gain the so-called green mass, which, after plowing, will turn into, and the extensive root system captures all the upper layers of the soil, preventing germination. Those grasses that manage to germinate do not receive enough light due to the thick green manure cover and eventually die. In addition, the root system of green manure penetrates well, improving the flow of melt and rainwater, oxygen into it, and also protects the fertile layer from blowing away in those regions where strong winds prevail.

Oats as green manure: what are the value and disadvantages

In addition to crops often grown as green manure, barley and oats are also very popular. Oats are one of the most ancient cereal crops; people planted them in the spring and before winter as green manure, when there was no wheat yet.

The value of oats is as follows:

1. Protein mass. Its stems are especially nutritious - they contain a lot of valuable protein, much more than and.
2. Mineral composition. There is less nitrogen in oats than in rye, but there is plenty of nitrogen in it. It enriches viscous clay soils.
3. Aeration. This cereal has a powerful root system - it loosens dense soil with powerful roots and, in addition to enrichment, guarantees enrichment with oxygen.
4. Strengthening. This root system, on the contrary, binds loose, unstable soils, so this cereal is good for any type of soil.
5. Herbicidal properties. Growing up, this grass forms dense stands, its stems are located close to each other, so none can appear between this crop - it simply drowns them out.
6. Unpretentiousness. This cereal is completely undemanding to the soil; it grows on loam, black soil, peat bogs, clay and sandy soils. A farmer's dream!
7. Productivity. Per one hundred square meters, the harvest of this crop yields a mass equal to 100 kg of high-quality.

Did you know? Oats were first included in the international classification of cereals in 1753, although they have been known to farmers for thousands of years. They attributed it to the Bluegrass family because of the beautiful tassels in which flowers appear and grains ripen.

Each farmer has his own disadvantages of oats:

1. Small volume of green mass. Perhaps in the spring, oats alone will not be enough as green manure for depleted lands, but this crop is suitable for maintaining the area where they produce and take good care of it.
2. There is little nitrogen in the composition. Due to the fact that this cereal does not contain very much nitrogen, it has to be sown where alfalfa or alfalfa is already growing, and then two crops must be plowed at once.
3. Requires low temperatures and frequent irrigation. Oats love shade, coolness and abundance. It is suitable for regions with a cold climate and damp spring, but in hot weather, on the contrary, it withers and dries out.

As you can see, the advantages of this green manure quantitatively outweigh its disadvantages.

Features of cultivation

There are several secrets, knowing which, you can grow oats with a large green mass and a strong root system, without tiring the soil. Grains planted at different times will provide different nutritional value, which will determine the harvest for the next year.

Which crops are best to sow in front of?

Let's say right away - cereals cannot be sown before cereals. Therefore, if you are planning to plant a field of oats or wheat, this green manure will not suit you. It is not yet advisable to sow oats in an area where it will later grow. called "" affects both oat green manure crops and plantings, and this disadvantage of the cereal outweighs all its advantages. To prevent the harvest of root crops from being lost, use another green manure before.

If you grew it in the field last year, and this year you are planning a sowing season, oats, on the contrary, will be useful - it will destroy the residues in the soil. For all other crops, this cereal will feed the soil well, so feel free to plant bushes, sweets of different varieties, as well as rosettes in the enriched soil.

When and how to sow green manure

This is a cold-resistant and moisture-loving cereal. Therefore, it needs to be sown in cold, damp times, preferably in October. As soon as the last crop is harvested from the fields, and the soil has not yet been flooded with autumn rains, the seeds are introduced into the soil. This cereal will not tolerate frost, so if winter is planned early, it is better to postpone sowing to spring. If there are thirty to forty free days before frost, the cereal will have time to gain the necessary green mass and become good - it will rot and rot under the snow.

Spring sowing of green manure depends solely on the weather. In warm regions, seed laying begins in February, when meltwater appears under the snow. If the winter is cold and long, oats are used as green manure at the end of March, as frosts recede. Then there is just a month left before the stems ripen, the soil is plowed and crops are planted. You can enrich the soil with this green manure until September inclusive - for early and late crops. Then a month-long break is taken and autumn sowing is carried out under the snow.
Before adding seeds to the soil, treat them with a weak solution to remove all pathogenic microflora from them and increase germination. Soak the seeds in the solution for twenty minutes and wash them under running water. It is most convenient to use gauze - the seeds will not drain along with the water and will be washed well. The earth will have to be loosened and cleared of old tops - it needs peace and a lot of air. Apply seeds in random order, in bulk, without laying lines or beds.

You should need about 2 kg of oat seeds per hundred square meters of land. The main thing is to distribute them evenly so that there are no bald spots in the crops. If the soil is dry, it is recommended to water it with water, but always with a sprayer so that the soil does not become dense and lumpy.

Did you know? In total, the oat genus includes twenty-two names. Of these only three- useful and cultivated crops. The remaining nineteen are considered malicious

Oats we will have doctor for the soil. There are many folk proverbs in which our ancestors pass on their wisdom to us: Throw oats into the mud and you will be a prince.This oats in the swamp will be like gold.

Oats sown in the dirt will yield heaps of sheaves. Do not forget that oats can be sown as the first crop in the spring while the soil is very moist after winter. Cold soil is not a problem for oats. Even if the occasional snow falls, there will be no harm.

Sowing must be done very quickly. Until the sun takes the moisture from the ground. Oats choke out the weeds. Enriches the soil with nitrogen.

Therefore, feel free to sow oats where cabbage, carrots and beets will later grow. I sow oats in early spring in the beds that will be used for planting seedlings. This means they will stand empty until May. The oats have been sown. The bed is covered with green shoots from weeds.

When the time comes to plant seedlings, I do this. I make holes in the garden bed directly in the oats, plant the seedlings, and cover the planted plant with oat stalks pulled out around the hole. The rest of the oats are still growing in my garden bed. It performs the function of protecting young seedlings from cold winds. When the seedlings grow and become stronger, I pull out all the oats and use them as mulch. It really turns out that oats-doctor for the soil.

Have you read this? :

For green fertilizer or to improve soil health, oats can be sown in a garden plot at different times. The first time for sowing is early in the spring (late April) in soil prepared in the fall.

Sowing is planned for those crops that are planted in the ground late, the very last: cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkins, zucchini, peppers. In greenhouses, oats can be sown even earlier. Autumn soil preparation is necessary because oats are sown very early, the very first of all crops, and you don’t even have to wait for the soil to thaw completely.

It’s not for nothing that our great-grandfathers made up the following saying about oats: “Sow oats in the mud, you will be a prince!” Early sowing is also necessary because oat seeds need a lot of moisture to swell and germinate. And in dry soil, oats may not sprout at all. There is no need to be afraid of early sowing, oat seeds germinate already at +1-2 degrees, and seedlings are not afraid of frost.

And if, after the emergence of seedlings, snow falls again, this will only benefit them. In cold soil, seeds are more quickly susceptible to various types of infections, so they can be treated with the most famous drug for this - potassium permanganate (in a 1 percent solution for 20 minutes). And then rinse in cold water. Oats can be sown in rows - in furrows. This is usually done when a small bed and few seeds are allocated for sowing.

And oats are sown randomly when a larger area is allocated for it. At the same time, they try to scatter the seeds evenly, and then embed them into the soil with the back of the rake. Otherwise, the birds will collect all the grains. When sowing in rows, the distance between them is left no more than 10 cm.

In this case, 1 kg of seeds is enough for you to sow a whole hundred square meters or even a little more. The seeding depth is 3-4 cm. The grown green mass is mowed, crushed and buried in the soil two weeks before planting seedlings of heat-loving crops - the mass must be allowed to partially decompose.

If the harvest of green mass is very abundant, part of it can be used for mulching or put into compost. If the weather is dry after incorporation of green fertilizer into the soil, then the bed must be watered to speed up the process of its decomposition, otherwise the plants planted on it will not feel very good comfortable. You can plan the next sowing date for oats yourself. It will be summer or autumn - depending on the time the garden bed is cleared of early cabbage, onions, winter garlic and other early harvested crops.

At the end of August and in September, there is no point in sowing oats - rye is better suited here. In July and early August, the moisture reserves in the soil are no longer the same as in early spring, and you will have to water the soil before and after sowing. Digging up the area with the grown crops in the fall It is possible to use green fertilizer later than without it, since the roots of the plants have already partially loosened the soil and digging it is much easier. It is very profitable to grow winter rye with green fertilizer. After all, it occupies the site at a time when the main crops have nothing to do on it: autumn, winter and early spring.

Therefore, such crops are called intermediate crops. They begin sowing winter rye in our zone from August 20-25. When sown early, rye will have time to bloom well before winter, and in early spring, when the soil thaws a little, it will continue to accumulate green mass and grow roots. Seed consumption for sowing per 1 hectare is up to 1.8 kg, seeding depth is 3 -6 cm (depending on the mechanical composition of the soil).

Sowing method: broadcast or row, with row spacing from 10 to 15 cm - they try to sow thicker with green fertilizer. The soil for growing winter rye must be prepared three weeks before sowing. In the spring, the grown green mass is crushed and buried in the soil two weeks before planting the main crop. What is the advantage of crops grown with green fertilizer? 1.

Green fertilizer (green manure) will cost you less than manure, since you will only have to spend money on seeds and partly on mineral fertilizers.2. Your garden beds with buried green manure will not end up with millions of weed seeds (as is the case with manure).3.

The yield of crops grown with green fertilizer is up to 300 kg (or more) of green mass, which is equivalent to the same amount of manure.4. In addition to the above-ground part, many invisible roots develop in the soil, and they penetrate to a depth of 1.5 meters or more.

At the same time, they extract nutrients from hard-to-reach compounds and carry them up from deep soil layers. That is, they facilitate the growth conditions of the plants planted after them.5.

Plowing green fertilizers increases the number of beneficial microorganisms in the soil by 1.5-2 times, and this improves the biological activity of the soil.6. All crops that we sow with green fertilizer suppress the growth of weeds and protect the soil from them.7.

Thanks to the substances secreted by the roots of oats and rye, the number of nematodes in the soil is reduced and the causative agents of many diseases are suppressed. When sowing mustard, peas, and beans for fertilizer, the wireworm disappears.8.

Potatoes grown after the application of green fertilizers are less affected by scab and other diseases. If you want to collect your own oat and rye seeds, then, firstly, you need to stock up on seed material of varieties released in your area, since rye brought, for example , from the south, it will not ripen. The second condition is the timing of sowing: oats are sown in early spring, winter rye - in the third ten days of August. The third condition is that when preparing the soil for sowing, fertilizers must be applied: 4-5 kg ​​of humus, up to a glass of ash or 2 tbsp. l. any complex fertilizers per 1 sq. meter. The fourth condition is that for growing grain, the crops are not thickened, they are sown less frequently: for oats with row spacing - 15 cm, for rye - 15-20 cm. If weather conditions do not allow the seeds to ripen in the garden, the stems of the cereals are cut and ripened in dry conditions. ventilated area. And then the seeds are threshed and dried in a warm room. After the period of post-harvest ripening (after 2-3 months), the germination of the collected seeds is checked.

Oats for cats: how to germinate them?

Everyone knows that an animal’s diet must be balanced and include a sufficient amount of vitamins for full growth and development. One of the favorite treats for cats, which is a storehouse of vitamins, is sprouted oats.

Moreover, a very important function of green grass is to stimulate the gag reflex, which helps the cat get rid of licked hair, bones or poorly digested food. Oats for cats can be purchased at a pet store, or you can germinate them at home, because all you need to grow greens is sunlight, fresh air, warmth and a little water.

It is better to choose a container for growing oats that is shallow, but with a wide diameter, which will allow you to germinate a large amount of young grass. A layer of 1-2 centimeters of earth or crushed sawdust is placed in a container.

Oat seeds are evenly sprinkled on top, which are covered with approximately the same layer of earth as the first. Some owners pre-soak the seeds in gauze before planting, and plant it in the ground with green sprouts, which allows the oats to germinate faster.

The planted seeds should be watered generously and covered with a plastic bag to create a greenhouse effect. To speed up the growth of grass, it is advisable to keep the soil or sawdust always moist.

The plastic bag can either be removed immediately after the seeds have sprouted, or left, but then regularly ventilate the young plants. You can cover the dishes in which the greens are growing with a potato or fruit net. This will prevent the cat from digging up the ground.

Since animals are more willing to eat young grass, oats should be planted twice a month, especially since the process itself, how to germinate oats for cats, is very simple and does not require special skills. And it takes very little time, because it only takes about a week to grow green grass approximately 5 - 6 centimeters high from seeds.

And you can feed oats even when the grass has taken root and even reached waxy ripeness. If the cat refuses to eat sprouted oats, then you can gradually introduce a small amount of it into the animal’s diet in crushed form. Young grass will only have a positive effect on the cat’s health, so a loving and caring owner should not neglect its cultivation.

What you need to know before sowing oats. Oats are not afraid of either cold or snow, so they can be sown to improve and fertilize the soil in a personal plot at different times. The first time for sowing is early spring, around the end of April, in soil prepared in the fall.

Sowing is planned for crops that are the last to be planted in the ground - zucchini, tomatoes, pumpkins, peppers. In greenhouses, oats can be sown even earlier.

Autumn soil preparation is necessary because due to the early sowing of oats, you don’t even need to wait until the soil finally thaws. And early sowing is necessary because oat seeds need a lot of water to germinate, since oats may not sprout in dry soil.

Oat seeds germinate at a temperature of one or two degrees Celsius, and its seedlings are not afraid of frost, so there is no need to be afraid of early sowing. Even if snow falls after germination, this will only benefit the oats.

In cold soil, oat seeds can be susceptible to various infections, so before sowing it is recommended to treat them with potassium permanganate for about twenty minutes in a one percent solution.

Oats are sown in rows and scattered. It is sown in rows in furrows when a small area is allocated for sowing and there are few seeds themselves. They sow randomly when the areas are larger.

In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the seeds are scattered evenly, and then embed them in the ground with the back of the rake, otherwise there is a danger that birds will peck them.

When sowing oats in rows, the distance between them should be no more than ten centimeters. The embedment depth is three to four centimeters. In this case, one kilogram of oat seeds is enough for one hundred square meters.

After the oats have sprouted green shoots, they are mowed, crushed and incorporated into the soil two weeks after planting the main crops. If the weather is dry after planting in the ground, you need to water the area generously to speed up the decomposition process. Otherwise, plants planted after oats will not feel entirely comfortable.

You can plan the next sowing of oats yourself, but it should be noted that there is no point in sowing them at the end of August or September - winter rye is better suited here. In addition, in July and August the moisture reserves in the ground are much smaller, so you will have to water the area both before and after sowing.

That's all that can be said about sowing oats as a green fertilizer. Nothing complicated! All you need is a little free time and the desire to increase the harvest collected on your own plot.

A story about how oats grow and what is cooked from them.

Oats

How to sow oats

Fields sown with oats, until recently, stretched to the very horizon, pleasing the eye with a pleasant first green and then golden carpet. Today, oats are sown less frequently, but this cereal is becoming in demand due to its high nutritional value.

1 If we talk about oats not on an industrial scale, this crop has become widely used to improve soil health. Like a real doctor, oats suppress the growth of aggressive weeds, and the deep roots of the plant enrich the soil with potassium and organic matter, improving its structure and water permeability.

There is rarely a farmer whose “career” has not included attempts to use organic farming techniques. And this is correct, because organic matter is the best fertilizer. However, things don't always go as planned. The point is a simple lack of knowledge of the simplest and very effective method of work.

Peculiarities

The first association with organic farming is constant, tireless work with significant quantities of compost. It seems as if there is no other way to do this, and that it is much easier to abandon your plan. But the usual way, in which significant volumes of fertilizers synthesized in factories are used, creates a product of dubious usefulness.

A real alternative is the use of green manure, which improves the soil much more effectively than compost and requires much less effort and time. The bottom line is that in the spring you will have to plant special technological crops in which a powerful root system is harmoniously combined with a lush green part.

A variety of crops can be planted as green manure: mustard and rye, oilseed radish, buckwheat, clover. The mechanism of work is that specially selected plants improve the mechanical structure of the soil and also add to it:

• nitrogen;
• phosphorus;
• potassium.

The popularity of this cereal in the difficult task of increasing fertility is increasing year by year. Its undoubted advantages are:

• ease of germination;
• unpretentiousness of plantings;
• simplicity of agricultural technology;
• saturation of the earth;
• inhibition of soil erosion;
• limiting the development of weeds.

That is why oats are equally often chosen among green manure by both experienced summer residents and agronomists in large agricultural companies. The dense vegetative part quickly gains the necessary conditions. Oats cope better than rye with the spread of weeds and other plants that readily invade cropland. Improving the mineral composition of the earth is achieved without any risk to the environment, in contrast to the use of ready-made fertilizers.

Areas occupied by cereal green manures, as shown by repeated botanical experiments, can prevent the harmful effects of wind and intense precipitation.

Additional advantages of oats as a green manure (typical, however, of all cover crops) are:

• support of positive microorganisms;
• increasing the permeability of the earth for incoming moisture;
• increasing microscopic ventilation of land.

What else do you need to consider?

Speaking about the characteristics of green manure crops, it is important to take into account that there is no universal type. Moreover, no matter how hard the breeders try, they will never breed it. After all, soils differ in acidity, mechanical structure, and other characteristics. The requirements for improving the land for each plant, and sometimes for each individual variety, can vary significantly. And there is also the individual compatibility or incompatibility of each green manure with certain field crops.

All cereal green manures, including oats, also have certain disadvantages. Their inept use can upset the balance of microelements in the soil or increase the likelihood of diseases occurring in the target crop.

Of course, the positive aspects of oats will be:

• suitability for development on poor soil;
• the ability to survive hypothermia and even excessive shade;
• density of growth from seeds;
• affordability of seed;
• lack of sophisticated requirements for cultivation;
• conversion of complex phosphorus compounds into simpler ones that are accessible to various plants;
• effective replenishment of soils with phosphorus and potassium.

Problems can be caused by an insufficient amount of green mass, as well as a small introduction of nitrogen (largely compensated by the skillful use of combinations of oats with other green manures). It should also be remembered that The crop requires significant watering and does not survive the heat well due to the weakness of the roots.

Agricultural technology

In order to get optimal results next year in summer and autumn, you need to use a strictly defined amount of seed. The average is 2 kg per 0.01 ha. But this figure can decrease or increase taking into account the characteristics of the soil and the concentration of nutrients in it.

The usual recommendation from professional agronomists is to plant oats in the first half of September. It is extremely important to get ahead of the onset of frost, and if it is likely to occur unusually early, it is better to sow quickly.

When oats are sown in the spring, they also focus on the actual weather. Usually in the southern regions it is allowed to scatter seeds over fields in the last days of February. For summer residents of the temperate zone, it is advisable to wait until the warm days begin in the spring. Judging by the reviews, it is possible to sow oats even without the use of complex machinery. Important: this rule applies only to summer residents; for large agricultural enterprises this issue is automatically removed.

In any case, the seeds are pre-prepared; the soil also needs to be treated - made smooth and loosened. The seeds that have thickly covered the ground in the garden or country house are covered with a rake and watered. It is required to introduce green manure seeds at a maximum depth of 20 mm. After all, they must rise quickly and then quickly produce results. A long delay of oats on the site during the season contradicts the very essence of the undertaking.

Green manure thickets need to be mowed before they begin to bloom. Self-sowing yourself with this crop should be excluded. But digging up the soil in the fall is left to the discretion of summer residents. Sometimes plants are simply cut and left on the surface to form a layer of humus. It is necessary to bury the crop of green manure to saturate the soil with minerals, and in cases where there is a high risk of being carried away by wind and water. Proper green manuring frees you from tedious mulching, organic fertilizing and weeding during the season, and without returning to synthetic fertilizers.

additional information

Whether oats are used on their own or in association with other green manures does not affect the overall planting density. The seedlings should grow in a powerful group, literally like a wall. When planting in spring, the plantings will have to be cut 14 days before planting the main plant. But in the fall, green manure is planted only after the harvest. If individual plants manage to sprout, they are not mowed down.

You can use organic replenishment of the land through oat crops to correct low soil indicators by:

• copper;
• zinc;
• gland;
• magnesium;
• manganese;
• sulfur;
• B vitamins.

Oats contain substantial portions of essential oils and phytoncides, which effectively prevent the development of microscopic organisms of fungal and bacterial species. It is especially good to use oats as green manure before tomatoes and blackberries, sweet peppers and raspberries, currants and zucchini, physalis and strawberries. Strawberries also give good results after it. If seedlings do not appear for a long time, feeding with saltpeter or superphosphate is allowed. The grain does not need any other support.

You can activate growth if you cut off the sprouts when they reach a height of 150-200 cm. If you plan to put the green mass in the ground, it is worth watering it with a substance that accelerates the decomposition of organic matter. Before planting, it is very important not only to loosen the soil, but also to clear it of debris. Oat seeds that have undergone standard dressing in half with washed and sifted sand are scattered in a uniform layer. Most often, the interval from sowing to mowing is approximately 45 days (taking into account weather conditions, soil characteristics and the development of the plant itself).

Excess green manure is collected and transferred to compost pits. The main advantage of oats is the abundant saturation of the soil with potassium; but it is important to remember that young shoots contain 200-400% more of it than late greens. This feeding has a particularly good effect on the development of peppers and eggplants. Of the accompanying crops, legumes show the best compatibility, and vetch is the leader among them. Acidic peat bogs are recommended for oats, but it grows somewhat worse on sand and salt marshes. An important advantage of green manure is the improvement of the appearance of the land, which will not appear “bare” until other crops emerge.

For more information on growing oats as green manure, watch the video.

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!

In order not to shovel heaps of compost on their site every year, many gardeners are starting to use artificial fertilizers. However, there are more affordable ways to enrich the soil with nutrients and improve its structure. Among these, first of all, it is necessary to note the green manure of the soil through a cereal crop such as oats. How effective this is, we will consider further.

Green manure- these are the so-called “green fertilizers”. Certain plants are specially grown to be buried shallowly in the ground to improve the structure and quality of the soil.

Oats as a crop

Oats are a representative of cereals, which belongs to the early crops and grows everywhere in temperate climates in the form of a loose bush that has leafy stems up to 120 cm high. In nature, annual types of crops are more common, but there are also perennial ones, although they have not received widespread.

Oats are grown both as a grain and as a green manure. It is not afraid of low temperatures above zero, which allows it to be sown in early spring, when the soil reaches physiological ripeness. However, unlike rye, oats do not tolerate frost.

The plant is quite moisture-loving, especially during seed germination, which is different from barley. Thus, in dry weather conditions, seedlings become sparse, and the plant does not produce a dense vegetative mass.

Oats are also a heat-loving crop, but are unpretentious to the type of soil - they grow on loam, chernozem, peat bogs, clay and sandy soils. Of course, when growing a plant on more fertile soils, the tillering and stem ratio is higher.

The optimal conditions for oats are cool, damp weather, so it is not advisable to use them as green manure in the summer or winter. The ideal time for it is spring and early autumn.

Why are oats used as green manure?

Oats have long been used for soil greening, due to its following properties:

• It has particularly nutritious stems that contain more valuable protein than alfalfa and clover.
• The vegetative mass contains more potassium and phosphorus than nitrogen. In terms of the content of nutrients, cereal biomass is comparable to manure, but there are fewer nitrogen compounds in this organic matter. It should be noted that the amount of elements depends on the age of the plant: the older it is, the more potassium it contains, but nitrogen predominates in young greenery. In this regard, oats as fertilizer are cut when they reach 20 cm in height.
  
• It has a fibrous root system that strengthens light soils and loosens heavy ones. In addition, the embedded green mass of the plant makes the soil more air- and moisture-intensive.
• Forms dense plantings - its stems are located close to each other, so weeds do not appear between them. Oats simply drown them out, showing better competitiveness. If unwanted vegetation does appear, it does not have time to form seeds before mowing the biomass.
• It gives a high yield - from one hundred square meters of land you can collect a mass equal to 100 kg of high-quality manure.

Thanks to all of the above properties, with the help of oats it is possible to restore neglected areas and put them into crop rotation, although this will take time - about 2-3 years. Gradually, the top fertile layer will be restored, losing the nitrates that have accumulated over the years of using mineral fertilizers. The soil will gradually receive nutrients from the green manure, which will allow it to become looser and more moisture-absorbing.

Oats can be confidently sown as an optimal soil loosener, as well as to prevent root rot from affecting garden crops.

Disadvantages of oats as green manure

There are several disadvantages of oats:

• Has a small amount of green mass. In the spring, the soil may be excessively depleted, so oats alone may not be enough for its green manure, although it will support the area where the sowing is carried out.
• Contains little nitrogen. For this reason, oats should be sown in areas where alfalfa or clover is already growing. In the future, the gardener needs to plow two crops at once.
• Needs low above-zero temperatures and frequent watering. Oats love shade, coolness and abundant watering, so they are more suitable for growing in regions with cool climates and wet springs. In hot weather, the plant will wither and dry out.

Despite some disadvantages, oats as a green manure have many positive characteristics, which is why they are used by many gardeners.

Which is better: oats or rye?

Any green manure plant has its own advantages and disadvantages, so you should choose green fertilizers for different plantings and soil types. So, in order to determine which cereal green manure is better - oats or rye, you should compare their characteristics, as well as decide on the purpose of planting.

How cultures differ from each other can be found in the table:

	Purpose	Soils	Consumption rate
Oats	It is grown in areas where it is planned to obtain a good harvest of crops that require large amounts of potassium. Such crops include tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. Oats can be sown after early vegetable crops are harvested to allow mowing before the first hard frost.	Prefers acidic or peaty soils. Not afraid of the risk of plant damage from root rot.	You can sow 1.3-1.8 kg of oats per hundred square meters. Mowing is done before mass flowering.
Rye	Planted under a number of garden crops. These include zucchini, pumpkin, cucumbers, tomatoes, and late cabbage. It is one of the most frost-resistant green manures, therefore it is mainly used for winter sowing.	Grows well in all types of soil. It is also not afraid of virgin soil and beds that are prone to waterlogging.	You can sow 2 kg of rye per hundred square meters. The plant should be mowed 2-3 weeks before planting the main crop.

In arid climates, it is better to sow oats, since rye has a drying effect. If you need to prevent the growth of weeds and destroy pathogens of fungal infections and nematodes, you should use rye. Its root system perfectly loosens even the heaviest soils, although it causes drying out of the soil surface.

Before winter, it is better to plant rye, since it is not only cold-resistant, but also not afraid of even severe frosts. Oats are more suitable for autumn or spring planting.

Some gardeners prefer to plant oats and rye together, since oat shoots saturate the soil with potassium and phosphorus, and rye shoots saturate the soil with nitrogen. In addition, both crops can be used for greening of depleted areas that have high acidity or salinity. However, when growing crops together, it is worth considering the risk that the main plant will not receive the required amount of moisture and will begin to develop worse. To avoid this, the mixture of seedlings must be watered abundantly, since rye and oat shoots consume more water.

What crops should I plant in front of?

Oats have virtually no relatives in the garden, other cereals, and they are an excellent precursor for most cultivated crops. These include:

• raspberries;
• currant;
• strawberries;
• strawberry;
• sweet pepper of any variety;
• tomatoes;
• cucumbers

Of course, it is worth considering that oats are a cereal crop, so they cannot be sown in front of other cereals, such as buckwheat or wheat. In addition, it is not recommended to sow oats in an area where you plan to grow potatoes in the future. The fact is that its root system attracts click beetles or wireworms, the population of which is increasing and poses a great threat to potatoes. So, for this crop it is worth choosing a different green manure.

After potatoes, on the contrary, it is recommended to sow oats for sowing change, since its roots contain specific substances that destroy the remains of potato scab in the soil, and also prevent the occurrence of root rot, nematodes and fungal diseases.

Oats should be planted together with legumes, such as vetch or fodder peas, since such a mixture is an improved manure and enriches the soil with all the necessary elements.

Sowing time

Oats are cold-resistant and even cold-loving crops, so it is advisable to plant them in the cool season:

• In early spring. When the snow melts on the site, winter seeds can be planted. So, the optimal time for carrying out this work is the beginning of April or the end of March. Oats like to grow in moist soil, so you don’t need to wait for the soil to dry out to plant them (it just needs to warm up). It is recommended that the planting itself be carried out approximately 2-3 weeks before planting the main crop, since green manure is mowed during the period of bud formation before seed set, when it contains a maximum of microelements.
• Early autumn. Oats are a cold-hardy crop, but not frost-resistant, so they need to be planted before frost sets in. The plant ripens quite quickly - in about 30-40 days. Oats planted in the fall should be mowed and left directly on the beds, lightly sprinkled with soil. This will make the soil loose and moisture-absorbing. Oats can also be left uncut. In this case, it will rot in the winter and be converted into fertilizer. One plowing will be enough to crush it and mix it with the soil.

Autumn sowing is preferable if the main crop is planted too early, due to which the oats do not have time to form a dense mass.

So, oats as green manure can be sown in early spring, when the soil is slightly dry, or in the fall after harvesting. The greens will be ready for use as fertilizer a maximum of 40-45 days after sowing.

The process of decay of plant residues will require about 2 weeks, after which the seedlings can be transplanted to the site. In total, preparatory activities take 2 months. Taking into account these time frames, everyone can calculate when to plant oats on their plot in order to saturate the soil in a timely manner.

How to sow oats as green manure?

If the plot is small, then green manure is usually sown in rows (beds), and if large - in bulk, followed by raking to a depth of 3-4 cm. When sowing using the first method, the consumption rate is 15 g per 1 sq. m. m plot. If the continuous sowing method is used, the amount of seed increases by 1.5-2 times. This indicator also increases if sowing work is carried out in the autumn. If a bean-cereal mixture is being prepared, then the proportion of oats should be reduced to 40%.

• for sowing it is worth choosing winter oats, especially when the green mass is planned to be cut in the spring;
• Before planting, the seed should be soaked for 20-30 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate or boric acid to prevent infection of the seedlings by fungi;
• seeds can be sown manually or using a special device;
• When sowing by hand, the seeds must be scattered over a pre-moistened area and sprinkled with soil.

The following video explains how to sow oats without having to dig up the soil:

How to care for crops?

After sowing, oats must be properly cared for according to the following rules:

• Water thoroughly if the weather is dry. The fact is that oats are a moisture-loving crop, so if the amount of water is insufficient, then without additional irrigation it will not be able to actively grow and intensively produce green mass.
• Check the condition of the crops every 3 days. It is necessary to determine whether the sprouts have hatched, what type they are, whether the leaves are developing normally or are drying out due to warm weather. If the stems are stunted, then you need to add a little mineral fertilizer in the form of ammonium nitrate or superphosphate. It should be noted that similar problems have to be encountered if the previous crop has excessively depleted the soil even for green manure.
• Apply a special agrotechnical technique - when the oats reach 10-15 cm, you need to trim them by 30%. Such manipulations stimulate plant growth, which in the future makes it possible to obtain more green mass to fertilize the soil. It should be noted that gardeners have experimentally established that cereals cut to a third of their height outstrip even those plants that were sown a week earlier.

In general, oats are easy to grow and only need adequate moisture. Only in isolated cases is it necessary to add additional fertilizers to the soil.

When and how to mow oats as green manure?

About 30-40 days should pass from the moment of sowing to mowing, but it is better to navigate by the grown green mass and panicle of flowers. When pollen appears on it, you need to immediately cut off the stems. In addition, the cutting should be carried out at the initial stage of heading, when the oats have grown to 20 cm, since it is in this state that they contain the maximum of useful substances. In the future, the stems will begin to become coarse and poorly decompose in the ground, and will also be steadily deprived of potassium.

The following video shows how to cut oats to green manure the soil, and also explains why this particular grain crop should be sown as green manure:

With autumn sowing, the mowing time often falls on the last days before the onset of cold weather, and with spring sowing - before the onset of hot May days.

Oats as green manure should be cut with a flat cutter, cutting the roots at a depth of 5-7 cm, and then embedded in the soil to a depth of 5-15 cm, depending on its structure: it is better to embed it deeper in clay soil, and shallower in light sandy soil. In any case, there is no need to excessively deepen the oats into the ground, otherwise, without access to air, they will begin to decompose and acidify the soil, bringing only harm to the plants, not benefiting them. So, it is enough to dig up the green mass to a depth of a shovel, and then press it with the top layer of soil.

If mowing is carried out in the spring, then the oats must be embedded in the ground no later than 2 weeks before planting the main crop, otherwise it will not have time to rot in time. If the work is carried out in November, then there is no need to drive it into the ground. It is better to do this shortly before the April sowing. Thanks to the cut stems, the ground will not freeze too deeply, so it will be ready for planting in the spring.

After mixing with soil, the green mass quickly decomposes with sufficient moisture, resulting in green fertilizer. If necessary, you can speed up the fermentation process of biomass by watering the greens embedded in the soil with one of the preparations of effective microorganisms (EM) or adding ammonium nitrate.

There is no need to dig up the stems, leaving them on the ground as mulch. In this case, they will protect the soil from drying out and weeds.

If there is a lot of green mass, then the excess does not need to be embedded in the ground, since in this case it will turn sour. So, the remainder should be thrown into a compost pit, where the green manure quite quickly breaks down into other components. In addition, the green mass can be placed in a barrel of water or used as feed for birds and livestock.

Can oats be used in summer?

Oats do not tolerate hot weather well, so they are not recommended to be grown in the summer heat. However, some gardeners prefer to use it in the summer, since it perfectly loosens loams and clay, removes putrefactive bacteria and excess moisture from the soil.

In summer, spring oats are used as mulch, which are placed between the rows. To speed up the process of decomposition of green mass, it should be watered with a solution of biological fertilizer, and then covered with a layer of straw. Such manipulations will also preserve moisture near the roots and encourage soil insects to gradually process plant residues and turn them into humus.

Video: oats as green manure

The method of weeding oats can be clearly seen in the video below:

Oats are a cereal crop that can be used for soil greening, because, thanks to its branched root system, it removes weeds well and loosens heavy clay soils, preventing them from cracking and drying out. In addition, the green mass of oats acts as an excellent fertilizer, as it saturates the soil with nitrogen, potassium and other useful elements.

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