Oat green manure for a high yield

The benefits of green manure on the site

Green fertilizers are one of the best ways to enrich the soil with organic matter, which will start working in the first year. For this purpose, different crops from different families are sown. Oats as green manure show themselves well, both in pure form and in a mixture with other components.

In agriculture, busy couples have long been used, since this is a way not only to give a respite to the earth after many years of its use, but also to enrich the soil with organic matter without losing mineral elements. This is achieved due to the fact that everything used by the plant for development and growth comes back, but in transformed forms. In addition, the benefits of siderates are manifested in the following:

• Improving the physiological properties of the soil. Thus, the root system of leguminous components loosens heavy soils many meters deep, and the fibrous roots of cereals strengthen the structure of the surface layers, which are most influenced from year to year.
• Erosion protection. Vegetation on the surface saves the soil from the harmful effects of water flows, especially on slopes, dust storms. Thanks to this, the most fertile layer of land remains on the site.
• Overheat protection. It is known that the temperature on the surface of pure vapors on hot days exceeds 50 ° C, which inhibits all ongoing processes and kills some microorganisms. The shadow created by green manure contributes to a significant decrease in soil temperature.
• Improving the phytosanitary condition. Dense vegetation inhibits the development of weeds, the root secretions of some plants scare off certain pests, and also reduce the risk of infection with diseases.In order to choose a particular crop as a green fertilizer, it is necessary to take into account its effect on the soil, attitude to growing conditions, the impact on the subsequent crop, which you are going to plant after planting green manure in the soil.

Oats as a crop

Both annual and perennial types of oats grow in nature, however, the second is not widespread. This is a representative of cereals, forming a loose shrub with leafy stems up to 120 cm high. It belongs to early crops, is grown in a temperate climate everywhere. The purpose of sowing can be both for grain and as green fertilizer.

Oats easily tolerate low positive temperatures, which makes it possible to sow it in early spring when the soil reaches physiological ripeness. It is quite hygrophilous, especially when seeds germinate (hence the saying about sowing oats in mud), therefore, in dry conditions, seedlings are sparse, and later the plants do not form a dense vegetative mass. This is a light-loving culture, it is not demanding of the type of soil, however, on less fertile soils, the tillering and stalk coefficient is lower. Therefore, in growing conditions that are poor in nutrients, it is recommended to increase the seeding rate, especially if the purpose of growing is green manure.

Benefits of oats

Oats have been used as a green manure crop in agriculture for a long time. This choice of plant is explained by its effect on the soil and on the subsequent crop:

1. It is a good predecessor for most crops as it grows. he has practically no common diseases and pests with anyone. True, this does not apply to plants of the same family. You must also take into account the population of click beetles if you plan to plant potatoes on a fertilized site, since after oats, an increase in numbers is possible. wireworm... But tubers with such a predecessor will no longer suffer from scab.
2. The fibrous root system strengthens light soils well and loosens heavy ones. And the embedded green mass makes the soil more moisture and air-consuming.
3. Together with the vegetative mass of the cereal, a fairly large amount of phosphorus and potassium enters the ground. In terms of their content, the biomass is comparable to that of manure. There are fewer nitrogen compounds in this organic matter. The number of elements can be adjusted by the age of the plants. The older it is, the more potassium it contains, while nitrogen prevails in young organs.
4. Oats - goes well with other crops. Especially often a mixture of it with legumes (vetch, fodder peas and others) is sown, because they enrich the soil with the element missing in the cereal, and the stems of the main plant serve as a support for them.
5. Cereals are very good at clearing weeds from the soil, since their dense stalk shows better competitiveness than vegetables. And the unwanted vegetation that survives does not have time to form seeds before the biomass is mowed.

When to sow oats as siderat

In order to determine the timing of green manure sowing, several parameters must be taken into account. Early maturity makes it possible to sow the cereal both in early spring before planting the main crop, and in autumn after harvesting. In both cases, oats have time to form a sufficient above-ground mass for organic matter to give a noticeable increase in yield.
Seeds are sown in a scattered way, followed by incorporation with a rake or in the beds. The consumption rate is 15 g / m2, while the method of continuous sowing implies an increase in the amount of seed by 1.5-2 times. Sowing in autumn also leads to an increase in this indicator. When preparing a legume-cereal mixture, the percentage of oats is reduced to 40%.

If you decide to sow green manure on your site, pay attention to the moisture content of the growing conditions. Plants consume a considerable amount of moisture during the period of growth and development, so if you often suffer from droughts, then only the use of green fertilizers with watering or sowing after harvesting the main crop is acceptable. Sowing in autumn is also preferable if the main crop is planted too early, which prevents the oats from forming a dense mass.

In general, its mowing is carried out after 35-40 days when it reaches a height of 20 cm. At the same time, at least 2 weeks must pass between the incorporation of green fertilizer and the planting of the main crop for the stems to begin the decomposition process. To speed it up, you can add specialized products or ammonium nitrate.

Green manure is one of the simplest organic fertilizers, which, in addition to its direct purpose, performs a number of other functions. Oats are the most common plant used for this purpose. In addition, its seeds are in maximum availability.