Oats (cover crop)
Cover crop · cool season
When to plant
- Sow seeds outdoors about 4 weeks before your average last spring frost.
- It can also be grown as a fall crop, timed back from your first fall frost.
- Ready to harvest about 60 days after planting.
Winter-kills in zone 6 and colder, leaving an easy mulch for spring planting.
Frost dates depend on where you live. Enter your ZIP code to get exact dates.
Dates by zone: 3a 3b 4a 4b 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 8b 9a 9b 10a 10b
Growing basics
Not edible.
- Sun
- Full sun (6+ hours)
- Spacing
- Broadcast
- Soil temperature
- At least 45°F
- Time to harvest
- About 60 days
- Plant family
- Grass family
- Seeds keep
- About 3 years
Grow it well
Tips
- Plant a cover crop in fall. Sow cereal rye, oats, or crimson clover in empty beds after harvest. The roots hold the soil through winter, and in spring you cut them down to feed the soil.
Oats (cover crop) seeds on Amazon (opens a new tab)Garden fork on Amazon (opens a new tab)Soil test kit on Amazon (opens a new tab)
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