How and when to cut oats like green manure

Soil green manure is a safe, efficient and low-cost way of enriching the land with nutrients and improving its structure.

A wide variety of crops are used as siderates. These are cereals, legumes, and crucifers. Oats, rye, and wheat are widely used from cereals. In the article, we will tell you in detail how and when to sow and mow oats, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of oats as a siderat.

The meaning of soil greening

Sideration involves plowing the green mass of plants into the soil in order to enrich it nitrogen and organic substances.

As such plants are used mustard, rapeseed, oilseed radish, rye, barley, alfalfa, clover, buckwheat, oats and other crops.

Need to know. Sowing plants with a developed root system and lush greenery fills the soil with organic matter and improves its structure.

This technique serves as an alternative to artificial fertilizers. and partially inhibits the growth of weeds.

Correctly performed green manure loosens and fertilizes the soil, protects the soil from washing out nutrients and minerals, contributes to the enrichment of the soil with nitrogen.

Mown grasses are used as mulch to protect against frost and preserve soil moisture.

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Advantages and disadvantages of oats as green manure

Oats are one of the oldest cereals grown in Russia... This cereal has recently been used as a fertilizer.

Its advantages:

1. During decomposition, the embedded greenery saturates the earth with organic, mineral substances and nitrogen. For a more efficient saturation of the soil with nitrogen, oats are sown in a mixture with legumes.
2. The cereal is unpretentious and suitable for sowing on all types of soils from black soil to loam.
3. The developed root system of the plant loosens the soil. Oats are especially good for heavy, dense soils. It improves their structure and oxygenates them. When sowing on light soils, oats strengthen the top layer and protect it from washing out and weathering.
4. Densely planted oats displace weeds from the site.
5. Oat seeds are sown both in early spring and in autumn, because they germinate even at temperatures close to zero.

disadvantages:

1. A small amount of green mass compared to other green manure plants.
2. Weak soil saturation with nitrogen. This disadvantage is compensated by the simultaneous sowing of oats and legumes.
3. Demanding soil moisture.
4. Slow growth at elevated temperatures. For this reason, it is not recommended to sow oats in summer.

Growing features

Oats are cold-resistant plants.... The optimal conditions for its growth and active growth of biomass are cool and humid weather.

Attention. Oats are sown as fertilizer in early autumn and spring.

Before what crops to sow

Oats, like any cereal, attract wireworms... Therefore, after immediately after it, potatoes are not planted.

It is best to sow this green fertilizer before cabbage, tomatoes, raspberries, strawberries, eggplants, onions, peppers.

Planting in autumn

Sowing oats to fertilize the soil in the fall is carried out so that the plants have time to grow greens before the arrival of cold weather... The exact sowing dates are determined based on the expected date of the beginning of frost.

Is it possible to sow oats before winter? Yes, but then seeds of winter varieties are chosen, and the green mass is cut in the spring, when it grows up.

Complex mineral fertilizers are applied before autumn sowing... Then the plants will receive good nutrition and will delight them with green mass. When mixing oat seeds with vetch, nitrogen doses are reduced by 50%.

Seeding rate - 1-2 kg of grains per one hundred square meters. Sowing is carried out manually, scattering seeds over wet soil and sprinkling with earth, or with the help of special devices.

Before sowing, the seed is pickled potassium permanganate or boric acid to protect seedlings from fungus.

Planting in spring

In spring, cereals are planted as soon as the snow has melted... During this period, the land is saturated with moisture, and the weather is still cool. These are the best conditions for the growth of green manure.

Sowing is carried out so that a couple of months remain before planting the main crop... Within 30-40 days, the cereal grows greens and for at least two more weeks it takes fertilizer rotting in the soil.

Summer landing

In the summer, sowing this grain does not make sense, so it does not tolerate heat well and will not be able to build up sufficient biomass. In addition, in the summer there is little moisture for oats and planting will have to be additionally watered.

Care rules

Planting oats does not require special care... Plants are additionally watered only if the spring is dry and warm. Oats do not tolerate drought.

Before sowing, before winter, mineral fertilizers are applied to the soil. Then the green manure will receive the necessary nutrition for the active growth of biomass in the spring.

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Mowing and embedding in the ground

When to mow oats planted as green manure? Before the appearance of ears, with the appearance of a panicle... In order for the mowed mass to quail faster, it is crushed with a shovel before embedding. Delaying the mowing time will lead to the fact that the stems become tough and will rot for a long time in the soil.

2-3 weeks after mowing and embedding of biomass in the ground, they are planted on the site the main culture.

Do I need to dig up the beds? This is optional. Mowed, but not sealed oat stalks will cover the soil and protect it from freezing. Close up of such an autumn green manure in spring.

Important tips and tricks from experienced gardeners

Tips and tricks from experienced gardeners will help get the most out of sowing oats as a green fertilizer:

1. On sandy soils, the greens are mowed, but the earth is not dug up. Then the oat roots will strengthen the fertile soil layer and protect it from washing out and weathering.
2. On fertile soils, green manure is plowed, and the main crops are planted on top.
3. Sow as early as possible in spring to make the most of spring moisture and cool weather.
4. In autumn, oats are sown early, so that it has time to grow greens before the onset of frost. Or they use podzimny sowing.
5. If a lot of greenery has grown, some of it is put in compost or used as mulch. If too many stems and leaves are embedded in the ground, they will not have time to overheat.
6. To combat weeds, the seeding rate is increased to 5-6 kg per hundred square meters. With this density, the weeds have no chance.
7. Oats, like other grains, are not sown before potatoes. But planting immediately after potatoes is very beneficial, as it helps to fight potato scab.

Reviews

Here are a few reviews of summer residents who grow oats as green manure.

Valeria Sergeevna, s. Tselinnoye: “I use oats as green manure along with rye and wheat. Thanks to this, I have a completely fertilized and fertile soil in my garden. The yield of raspberries has increased, although before that it was bearing very poorly ".

Petr Viktorovich, p. Elan: “I sow oats in the spring for protection from weeds. And the quality of the harvest invariably pleases, onions began to grow better ".

Olga, Tomsk: “Oats as a green manure helped me grow an enviable strawberry crop.The bushes have become lush and beautiful, and the berries are large and tasty. Now I recommend this method to everyone I know ".

Conclusion

Oats are good not only as food crops, but also as a fertilizer for the soil. Its developed root system improves soil structure. Regular sowing of cereal in empty areas increases the productivity of garden crops. It helps fight weeds on the site.

It is good to use oat fertilizer in a mixture with other green manure crops. An integrated approach to green manure saturates the soil with all the nutrients necessary for cultivated plants.