Buckwheat question

[pheasantguy]

I planted buckwheat in the woods that I lease for hunting in mid-June. At present the plot is only 1/4 acre. (I have to do everything by hand and with no help. Plot will get larger as time permits.) I followed the Ed Spin method; sprayed and cleared last year, tested the soil, applied lime and fertilizer. Tested the soil this year and found the pH was 6.3. Added more lime and fertilizer and planted in mid-June. The plants came up and looked great! I fenced a 3-4 foot diameter section so that I could see how much the "deer" were eating the plants. We have had a few good rains since the plants sprouted. I checked the area last weekend after a nice rain and found deer tracks but only through the plot connecting two trails. It appears as if 75-80% of the plants have disappeared! The remaining plants look healthy and 5-6" tall. There is no difference between plants in the normal area and the fenced in section. I'm somewhat baffled as to what has happened. The farmer I lease from told me that probably the woodchucks and squirrels have been feasting. There are several woodchuck dens in the woods and they do a number on his beans. Is this the cause or is he pulling my leg? Thanks.

[Shop Rat]

With that ph and fertilizer the buckwheat would be awesome. I have a plot that started as sandy 4.5 and the buckwheat grew good. 3ft tall. I have a couple of questions.
1. Are there stems sticking up?
2. Did you mean the ones in the cage are missing like outside the cage?

When deer hit it hard, there is a stem sticking up 3-4". Turkeys pull out the sprouts and seeds, but I have not seen squirrel or ground hog activity yet. I would like to see what others have to say.

[QuakrTrakr]

Is the plot well drained? I had a problem with water pooling after a heavy rain. It pretty much killed half the buckwheat. Also, 1/4 acre isn't very much. Deer could clean that out in a weekend.

[Backwoods-Savage]

Depending on what you used for the cage or fenced in part, a small rabbit can get through an amazingly small hole and eat a bunch.

An no, that farmer was not pulling your leg.

[pheasantguy]

Shop Rat: There are no stems sticking up and the plants in the cage are just like the others. QuakrTrakr: The plot seems to be well drained as after the last heavy rain I had only one small wet spot, but not really pooled. Backwoods-Savage: I'm using 3 foot high 1"x4" fence. I don't see any signs that would normally indicate turkeys. I set up a trail camera but all I picked up was deer. And they appeared to not even notice the plants, simply continued along the trail. I should have mentioned that the woodchucks were hitting the beans next to the woods pretty heavily until the farmer sprayed with roundup. That seemed to be about the time my plants started disappearing. I've pretty much ruled out deer so unless my camera can tell me differently I'm leaning toward woodchucks as the culprits. Or perhaps rabbits. Thanks guys.

[chinamigarden]

From my limited experience I found that buckwheat goes to seed after about 6 weeks. Once that happens the plants stop growing and start to die off. Are you planning a second planting?

By dissappear to you mean, nothing left? No stems, no flowers, leaves, nothing?

I plant my buckwheat as a cover crop for a garden. Maybe my experience is limited due to the fact that once it goes to seed I till it in and re plant. I am on my second planting right now. What is the standard practice for deer?

[chinamigarden]

I just reread your last posting.

The farmer sprayed his beans with roundup just prior to your problem starting. It is possible that the wind drift took the herbicide to your buckwheat and killed it off. I mentioned in my last posting that I use buckwheat as a cover crop. Its a good cover crop because it breaks down so fast. If your buckwheat was killed off it would decompose rather quickly, compared to other plants.

[NorthJeff]

Actually....it's a good thing, regardless of the reasons. BTW...rabbits love the stuff! When buckwheat is a few inches high and gets the top nipped off...it's dead. It's got grow a few levels of leaves before it can take browsing pressure. In small plots it's tough sometimes, and rabbits can do some damage.

Buckwheat can get incredibly tall in the right conditions, making it nearly impossible to work with by hand. There have been pictures on this site of buckwheat as tall as 4', and I have some growing on my property right now, only in the ground around 7 weeks, that is over 2' high. With a lot of dirt showing in the short buckwheat, and no weeds, you have a great opportunity to cultipack some seed into the soil, within the buckwheat. If you were going to go with brassicas, or a brassica/clover blend the time to plant is right now, or you could plant rye or wheat around Labor Day, along with clover as well.

Last night I took a 1/4 acre of buckwheat around a foot to 18" high and broadcast by hand a brassica/clover combination. I then cultipacked the field twice and followed up with a spraying to make sure it didn't come back up and shade-out my brassicas.

What are you planning on planting for fall? Wheat or rye has the best ability to compete with cold temps and grazing pressure on small plots and perennials such as clover often add nothing more than a low green dormant covering during the best of hunting season on small plots...might be something to consider. Brassicas are more of the gamble. Might be the perfect mix of attraction and growth to produce a fine hunting crop through the bulk of the season, it may be all grazed before and Oct. and offer nothing, and depending on your location some areas experience virtually no browsing until January or later, or none at all.

Whatever you do though, sounds like you have a great foundation for your plot (also sounds like you could have planted last late summer too!).

[ed_jenkinsww]

Last night I took a 1/4 acre of buckwheat around a foot to 18" high and broadcast by hand a brassica/clover combination. I then cultipacked the field twice and followed up with a spraying to make sure it didn't come back up and shade-out my brassicas.

So you basically overseeded and layed the buckwheat down right? Did you do this to provide a cover residue to reduce evaporation or as a time saving way of doing it? How well does the brassica/clover mix come in as opposed to disc and plant? Sounds like a good idea.

Thanks,
Ed

[NorthJeff]

Ed, all the seed except for maybe what initially was caught in the leaves of the buckwheat ended up on exposed soil within the buckwheat. There were no weeds present in the entire field, so the only remaining concern of mine was that the brassicas would be shaded out and killed by the quick growth and agressiveness of the buckwheat. Brassicas can't take very much competition for sunlight so I cultipacked both to provide optimum seed to soil contact, and eliminate shade for the new planting. The spraying was to insure that the majority of the buckwheat would stay put, possibly acting as a type of mulch to the young plants.

This is the first time I've done this with a brassica/clover blend into buckwheat. It's worked great with rye, and I've overseeded and cultipacked buckwheat into sparse clover before with great results too. I've also broadcast wheat and rye into dead grass and debris and then run over it with a spike-toothed harrow to get the seed onto the soil under the grass..worked great too.

The other alternative was to just till up the entire field, cultipack, seed, and then cultipack but this way I don't have to bring any more weed seeds to the top of the soil....should work, we'll see! The other 1/2 is much thicker, and I'm tilling it under around Labor Day to put in a mix of perennial grass seed and annual rye..becuase it will all turn into a new backyard for a cabin we just purchased down the road-1/2 clover, 1/2 perennial grass.

[ed_jenkinsww]

I'm interested to see how your mix comes through. Keep us posted! Thanks Jeff.

Ed

[pheasantguy]

NorthJeff, my original plan was to cut what was left of the buckwheat and plant a mix of wheat and rye Labor Day weekend. I guess I won't need to do any cutting.

[QuakrTrakr]

Ya'no, I think I may Lime this weekend with all this rain we've been having. It might save a little work in the August heat. Has anyone planted rye this early? Just curious how it was for bow season?

[NorthJeff]

QT,

I've planted rye up here in the U.P. in early August, but I'd still say the ideal time for rye in the U.P. is the 3rd week of August to Labor Day weekend...Labor Day weekend to mid-Sept. down state. We put our wheat and rye in WI down Labor Day weekend and with a quick rain it's already being browsed for the opener 2 weeks later.

[QuakrTrakr]

Wow, that comes up fast then. OK, I'll wait then. Thanks for the advice.

[Backwoods-Savage]

QT,

I've planted rye up here in the U.P. in early August, but I'd still say the ideal time for rye in the U.P. is the 3rd week of August to Labor Day weekend...Labor Day weekend to mid-Sept. down state. We put our wheat and rye in WI down Labor Day weekend and with a quick rain it's already being browsed for the opener 2 weeks later.

Not necessariy so Jeff. Central MI I have found anywhere from August 5-15 is an ideal time to plant rye. I have planted it as late as Sept 1 but always get a much better crop planting earlier. Perhaps it is because more rain falls up there in September.

We'll probably be planting rye and oats within a week here, depending on the weather.

[NorthJeff]

Depends on the level of deer browse and number of deer too. You could look at it this way...it doesn't hurt to plant much later, and the greens are always fresher then.

This 8/3 plot would not be a good plot by any means in most areas where there were alternative food sources, but in the U.P. with 5" of snow on opening day of bow...it was golden!

http://www.whitetailhabitatsolutions.com/copper/albums/userpics/10001/normal_August_2004.jpg