Buckwheat - Key Growing Information
Uses: Quick summer cover crop for weed and erosion control. Also has a soil conditioning effect, increasing aggregation and reducing compaction. Grain can be ground for flour or cooked whole. Also an important honey plant as bees are very attracted to buckwheat.
Culture: Buckwheat is a rapid, warm-season grower. Plant after all danger of killing frost in late May through July. For a fall grain crop, plant at least 12 weeks before killing frost. As a fall cover crop, plant at least 4 weeks before frost. Sow seed ½–1" deep, and rake in lightly. Broadcast at the upper end of the recommended rate or drill 1–2 seeds per inch in rows 4–6" apart (approximately 55–60 lb./acre). Two or more crops can be grown successively, planting the second immediately after terminating in the first. Buckwheat is lush, and breakdown is rapid after incorporation. Not nitrogen-fixing but may be mixed with a legume or planted/rotated in a series of short cover crops over the course of a season. Self-sows easily, so till in before seed set if you don't want more to grow. Relatively free of serious insect and disease problems.
Seeding Rate: Green manure: 2–3 lb./1,000 sq.ft.; 50–90 lb./acre. Grain crop: 1½–2½ lb./1,000 sq.ft.; 48–64 lb./acre.
Light/Soil Requirements: Part to full sun in any average soil. Buckwheat even grows well in marginal soils and is a good short-term soil improver for poor soils. Ideal pH is 5.0–7.0. Dislikes heavy, wet, or very alkaline soil.
Height: 2–5' or more.
Harvest: Grain harvest: Cut after a killing frost, when the plants have sufficiently dried. Thresh and mill to remove the hulls.
Termination: Buckwheat can be terminated at any stage, but optimum incorporation time is 7–10 days after flowering and before seed set. Buckwheat is relatively easy to terminate using tillage, mowing, or tarping. Tarping is more easily managed when buckwheat is first crimped or mowed to flatten the crop. Buckwheat is frost sensitive and will winterkill reliably.