🌾 Oats
Avena sativa
grains
annual
Poaceae
☀️ Sun
Full sun
💧 Water
Moderate to high
🗺️ Zones
3, 9 (grown as cool-season annual)
🧪 Soil pH
6.0, 7.5
🪴 Soil Type
Loamy, fertile
🚿 Drainage
Well-drained, moisture-retentive
📏 Spacing
Broadcast or 6, 8 inch rows
📐 Height
2, 4 feet
⏱️ Maturity
90, 120 days (grain); 60, 75 days (milky stage for medicine)
Key:🤝 Grows well together❌ Keep apart☀️ Sun needs💧 Water🗺️ Hardiness zone
🤝 Companions (7)
Cool-season grain intercrop
Beneficial insect attractor
Planted at field margins for biodiversity
Undersown cover after oat establishment
🤝 Field Peas
Classic nurse crop combination
Traditional European field companion
🤝 Vetch
Nitrogen-fixing companion
⚠️ Keep Apart (3)
📝 Growing Notes
For medicinal 'milky oats,' harvest when immature seeds exude a white, milky latex when squeezed , a window of only ~1 week. Sow in early spring as soon as soil can be worked; oats prefer cool weather. Excellent cover crop and green manure. Allelopathic root exudates suppress some weeds.
🛒 Buy Seeds & Plants
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Botanical Interests
True Leaf Market
Burpee
Territorial Seed Company
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