Buckwheat and ????

For those of you that have planted buckwheat in spring have you mixed in something else with it or was it stand alone? I'm guessing it grows so fast it shades out other things? Or will some annual clover (crissum clover?) or something add to it?

 

I usually plant it alone as it's aggressive and grows quickly, out-competing other crops. You can always cut back on the seeding rate if planting with other crops.

I wouldn't plant it with clover, but other warm season annuals would be great (ICP, LabLab, Soybeans, Sorghum, etc.,). My plot sizes are too small for most warm season annuals like those, however.

 

How early in the season do you plant it Matt? Do you plant right after the threat of frost is gone? What kind of seeding rates would you use broadcasting into dead brassicas?

 

Buckwheat is more of a cover crop, it will outgrow anything you plant with it. In my experience, wheats and grasses hinder anything I've tried to plant with them and the only one I have had success planting with something else is ryegrass. The cover crops really help the soil though. Are you looking for nutrition or bedding/cover?

 

Here's a strip I planted last year. I lowered the rate down a bit to include some left over rye with it just for fun. I planted at 20lbs/acre.

Shortly after planting (5/24):



Then on 6/15:



Side by side (left is fall planted rye/clover before I mowed it down). The rye in the buckwheat was mostly choked out even at the lower seeding rate, but it's not a fair comparison to, say, a warm season annual being planted alongside the buckwheat.

 

I want to plant buckwheat for the following reasons:

1. Grows fast. My plots stay wet for a long time and our growing season is short as it is. I want something that grows fast. If I plant mid May I will only be growing for two months before I replant for fall. Maybe as little as 6 weeks if I spray early July.
2. Cover crop for weeds
3. I want to plant consecutive years of brassicas and I need to grow something in between the brassicas to protect the soil.
4. Soil Builder
5. Easy to grow.
6. Maybe feed a few deer along the way too this spring /summer. Nothing wrong with that.

 

I'm in 6a so my dates would be a little earlier than you, but yeah, generally speaking, I wait until about mid May at the earliest. Once soil temps are up a bit (50+) and certainly well past the threat of any frost.

 

Does buckwheat put Nitrogen into the soil?

 

No it doesn't fix nitrogen like a legume would.

 

If you read my reasons for wanting to plant buckwheat above is my reasoning correct? Or should I be considering something else? The more I think about it the more I see I only have about 5-6 weeks of growing time until it will get sprayed.


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Yep, it's spot on, and most of the reasons (aside from the water issue) is why I plant it. Super easy to grow. Helps build OM, provides cover for turkeys (they love it), deer eat it here, and it's a transition planting between fall plantings for me as well.

 

Great. Do you think I would need to fertilize with anything following up brassicas?

 

Fertilizing the buckwheat? I don't. Save your fertilizer until you actually plant your brassicas.

 

Didn't think so. It grows anywhere I think.

 

Yep, good reasoning. I wasn't questioning just wondering. Solid advice from Matt who knows way more than I do so it sounds like you have a plan.

 

One more question. In 5-6 weeks how high will it be? How much thatch will I have to deal with if I won't be able to mow it? I would spray and figure out how I am going to turn up the soil.

 

I'd say it would probably reach about half it's potential height in the right conditions. You're probably looking at knee high, 15-20 inches. Buckwheat flowers and sends seeds flying pretty quickly, within a few months I'd say. If I were you, when you start seeing the buds I would get the spray on it to kill them before they start throwing seeds around or you may have trouble with seedling competition with whatever you plan to put there afterwards.

 

Depends one conditions, but in three weeks, mine had grown about 20 inches. By the time we mowed it in July, it had thinned out a bit, but it's very stemmy by the time we mow it down. We finally acquired a tiller this past season and that made it easier, but before when using a spring tooth harrow, we had to mow it down, then mow it with a second pass to really break it up as to not clog the tines.

What do you have for tilling?

 

ATV disc.

 

Should be fine with that especially if you spray prior.