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Siderata are used to improve the structure of the soil, protect the site from weeds and the scorching sun, as well as replenish the fertile layer of the earth with nutrients. When you need to sow oats like green manure, how will it help in the garden? Let us consider in detail the methods of using this culture on a personal plot.
Advantages and disadvantages of using oats
In most cases, green manure helps the soil to revive and become fertile. Due to this, cultivated plants planted together with them receive organic matter in full.
But not everything is as beautiful as the impression is made. Siderata can do harm instead of benefit. In order to prevent problems in the garden, they carefully study the recommendations for sowing such unique cereal plants.
Oats are a crop that is rich in nutrients throughout the growing season. Cutting off the green part is carried out before the tops turn yellow, so that after decomposition the greens serve as additional food for the soil.
The strong qualities of the plant are:
- the possibility of sowing in autumn and spring;
- characterized by increased resistance to frost, weather changes;
- will not harm early crops;
- suitable for depleted soil, with a high salt concentration, with a disturbed acid-base balance;
- prevents the appearance of weeds;
- for its fertilizing qualities it is equated to manure;
- increases potassium, phosphorus, moisture capacity, air permeability;
- prevents rust and erosion.
The negative aspect of growing is that oats are suitable in arid places. When sowing in an area with a high humidity climate, the grain crop provokes the appearance of mold. Also, green manure gives little nitrogen to the soil, as well as green mass.
Why is oats used as green manure?
Oats have long been used for soil green manure due to their following properties:
Due to the potassium content, oats are especially beneficial for nightshades and berries, cucumbers and cabbage, as this substance makes their taste more intense and sweet.
Thanks to all of the above properties, with the help of oats, it is possible to restore neglected areas and launch them into crop rotation, although this will take time - about 2-3 years. Gradually, the top fertile layer will be restored, losing nitrates, which have been accumulated over the years of using mineral fertilizers. The earth will gradually receive nutrients from the green manure, which will allow it to become looser and more moisture-consuming.
Oats can be sown with confidence as an optimal loosening agent, as well as to prevent root rot damage to garden crops.
What crops are sown under
An unequivocal ban on sowing oats on the territory where they plan to grow grain crops and potatoes.
In the first case, the explanation of the undesirable sequence due to family ties. The necessary microelements will be absorbed during the growth of oats, but will not leave other crops.
In the second case, the reason concerns the possible presence of a wireworm. The pest damages both crops and next year there is a risk of a new infection that will kill the potatoes at the ripening stage.
For all other garden / horticultural plants, oats can be used as green manure or fertilizer. The cereal will have a particularly good effect on the growth of cabbage, strawberries or nightshades. Oats will not be superfluous during the planting of pumpkins, zucchini and berry bushes.
Growing features
There are several secrets, knowing which, you can grow oats with a large green mass and a strong root system, without exhausting the soil. A cereal planted at different times will give a different nutritional value, on which the harvest for the next year will depend.
Mustard, buckwheat, phacelia, and lupine are also used as green fertilizers.
In front of what crops is it better to sow
Let's say right away - cereals should not be sown before cereals... Therefore, if you plan to plant a field of buckwheat, oats or wheat, this green manure will not work for you. It is still not advisable to sow oats in the area where potatoes will later grow. The pest called "wireworm" affects both crops of oat green manure and potatoes, and this lack of cereal outweighs all its advantages. To prevent the loss of root crops, use another green manure in front of the potatoes.
If potatoes grew in the field last year, and this year you are planning a seeding shift, oats, on the contrary, will be useful - it will destroy the remains of potato scab in the soil. For all other crops, this cereal will feed the soil well, so feel free to plant bushes of raspberries, currants, sweet peppers of various varieties, tomatoes, cabbage, as well as strawberry and strawberry rosettes in the enriched land.
Important! Despite good growth in cool climates, oats do not tolerate sharp frosts and dries up during them. So that your crops are not lost, sow this crop in October or March, but not before winter.
When and how to sow green manure
It is a cold-resistant and moisture-loving cereal. Therefore, you need to sow it in a cold, damp time, best of all in october... As soon as the last crop is removed from the fields, and the soil is not yet flooded with autumn rains, the seeds are applied to the soil. This cereal will not tolerate frost, therefore, if winter is planned early, it is better to transfer 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 a good fertilizer - overheat and rot under the snow.
Spring sowing of green manure depends solely on the weather. In warm regions, seed laying begins in February, when melt water appears under the snow. If the winter is cold and long, oats are used as green manure at the end of March, as the frosts recede. Then just a month remains before the stems ripen, the soil is plowed and the crops are planted. It is possible to enrich the soil with this green manure until September inclusive - for early and late crops. Then a monthly break is taken and the autumn sowing is carried out under the snow.
Before adding seeds to the soil, treat them with a weak solution of potassium permanganate 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 with water and will rinse well. The earth will have to be loosened and cleaned of old tops - it needs peace and a lot of air. Apply seeds in random order, in bulk, do not lay rulers and beds.
You should take about 2 kg of oat seeds per one 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 a hose, but always with a spray, so that the earth does not become dense and knocked down.
Did you know? In total, the oat genus includes twenty-two items. Of these, only three
- useful and cultivated crops. The other nineteen are considered malicious weeds. Their names are appropriate- dubious, barren, empty and favorite of the weed race- bearded oats.
How to care for crops
This cereal needs abundant watering. If the weather does not provide it, you will have to add moisture. Once every three days, check the condition of the crops - whether the sprouts have hatched, what kind they are, the leaves are developing normally or dry in warm weather. If the oat stalks are unwilling to grow, the previous crop may have depleted the soil too much, even for green manure. In this case, add some mineral fertilizers - both saltpeter and superphosphate are suitable for this cereal. In general, oats are an unpretentious culture and do not need anything other than sufficient moisture.
Reviews of gardeners about green fertilizer
The use of live or green fertilizers is the most rational use of your knowledge and strength. According to numerous reviews of amateur gardeners, it can be noted: oats are one of the few plants that benefit the garden throughout the year:
Valeria Eliseevna. I learned the method of planting fertilizer plants in one bottle a long time ago - from my grandmother. Since I myself am a resident of the village, I will not even look for a more convenient means for replenishing nutrients. You can, of course, take manure. But it will take too much of it, and the price of organic matter is not cheap now.
Yaroslav. I learned about the properties of oats by accident. With his help, my plants came to life. I thought for a long time what I was doing wrong. It seems like I water and fertilize, but there is no sense. Fortunately, the neighbor suggested. He himself sows oats and legumes between the rows.
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, one should compare their characteristics, and also determine the goals of planting.
How cultures differ from each other, you can find out from the table:
In dry climates, it is better to sow oats as rye has a drying effect. If it is required to prevent the growth of weeds, to destroy pathogens of fungal infections and nematodes, rye should be used. Its root system perfectly loosens even the most difficult soils, although it causes drying of the soil surface.
Soil green manure process
This process involves the use of special technological crops with a developed root system and succulent vegetative mass to replenish the soil with organic matter and mechanically improve its structure. Such crops include plants of the cruciferous family (mustard, winter and spring rape, oil radish), cereals (rye, oats, barley, wheat), legumes (alfalfa, clover, peas, lupine, vetch), buckwheat (buckwheat) and many others ... Ground cover green manures are accumulators of phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. They are no worse than nitrate, carbamide or ammonia water to cope with fertilizing the soil in the autumn and spring. How to choose and when to sow green manure to achieve optimal farming results, the farmer will learn from this overview.
Sowing time
Oats are a cold-resistant crop, they can be sown from the very early spring after warming up the soil. There is no need to wait for it to dry, oats love moisture, so they plant it without waiting for the soil to dry out. Adequate amount of water will ensure active growth of the cereal and an intensive gain of green mass. Therefore, if droughts are characteristic of spring and summer, then additional watering should be provided.
Oats do not tolerate hot periods, so sowing in the heat of summer is not recommended.
It has a fast ripening rate, about 30–40 days; when sown in early spring, it can be harvested before the onset of high air temperatures.
Oats as a siderat can be sown in early autumn, before the onset of frost. It is only necessary to calculate the time for its growth, since although it is cold-resistant, it does not like frost. For the same reason, it is not sown for the winter like rye. Oats planted in autumn are mowed and left directly on the ridges, sprinkling with earth a little. It is permissible to leave it unmown: during the winter it will rot and form fertilizer. One plowing will be enough to crush and mix it with the soil.
