Last edited by shiny on 3 Nov 2026. View history

Oat

How to sow oat: Direct seed/broadcast

Sun requirement for oat: Plant in Full Sun

Oats are a species of cereal grain grown for their seed. They are an annual, upright grass with a higher tolerance for rain than other cereal grains. Oats thrive in cool, moist conditions and can tolerate light frosts up to -15C. They do not do well in hot, dry weather. Oats can be eaten as rolled or steel cut oats, oat flour, muesli, or baked into granola. They can also grown as livestock feed or cover crops/green manure. Seeding rates, planting time, and spacing vary based on intended use.

3: plantings
0: harvests
0: seed packets

Growstuff is a free, community-run site for people who grow food. Keep track of what you plant and harvest, find seeds to swap, and see what is growing near you. Join to record your own oats.

Oat facts

Lifespan

Annual living and reproducing in a single year or less

Height × spread

120cm × 7cm

Row Spacing

7cm

How members grow oats

Sunniness

Planted from

Varieties of oat

black oat

Avena sativa

hulless oat

Avena sativa

Plant oats with

pea

Photos

Oat crops

Photo by CompanyInk via iNaturalist (Copyright CompanyInk)

Oat plantings

Where oats grow

Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.

What people are saying about oats

Nobody has posted about oats yet.

Who's planted oats

shiny Big main bed · Wellington, NZ
cfarm Patio raised bed · Philadelphia, PA
sakata Garden · Ashgrove Brisbane Qld

Oat harvests

Nobody has harvested this crop yet.

Find oat seeds

There are no seeds available to trade on Growstuff right now.

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Ecological requirements

Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Avena sativa L.

Family / Taxonomy	Liliopsida Commelinidae Cyperales Gramineae
Optimal temperature	16 - 20 °C
Absolute temperature	5 - 30 °C
Killing temperature	growth: -1 °C, rest: -15 °C
Optimal rainfall	600 - 1000 mm/year
Absolute rainfall	250 - 1500 mm/year
Optimal soil pH	5.0 - 6.0
Absolute soil pH	4.5 - 7.5
Crop cycle	110 - 270 days
Life form	grass
Life span	annual
Habit	erect
Optimal soil depth	medium (50-150 cm)
Optimal soil texture	heavy, medium, light
Optimal soil fertility	high
Optimal soil drainage	well (dry spells)
Optimal soil salinity	low (<4 dS/m)
Photoperiod	neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours)
Optimal light	very bright

Licensed under CC-BY-4.0 .

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) ECOCROP, the crop ecological requirements database. Version 1. https://data.apps.fao.org/catalog/dataset/ecocrop. Accessed through the CGIAR Climate Action Data Hub, https://cgiar-climate-data-hub.github.io/catalog/ecocrop_1/.

Learn more about oats

Resources outside Growstuff.

Oat