A few summer ago , my wife casually mentioned that she needed a cup of tea of buckwheat . “ No problem , ” I responded . ” I ’ll pick up a grip the next fourth dimension I ’m in the grocery computer storage . ” I cipher she must have been reading my psyche as I had just hour before been thinking that it had been too long since I had sat down in front of a smokestack of buckwheat pancakes smothered in warm maple syrup . Needless to say , the conversation lead downhill after I mentioned my pent up hunger for buckwheat battercake . She shortly inform me that she was n’t talking about buckwheat flour to make pancakes but buckwheat seeds to be used to plant in the garden to fill in some bare spots . Well , that wad of pancakes evaporate right before my eyes . I add up to the finish that this buckwheat journeying she had in mind was going to be a garden journey not a culinary breakfast journeying . I was about to find out the benefits of growing buckwheat in the garden as a summertime blanket craw .
As it grow out buckwheat ( Fagopyrum sagittatum ) has been grown in Americasince colonial days , and the crop once was common on farms in the northeastern and north key United States . A couple of farmers whose public figure you may recognise , George Washington and Thomas Jefferson , represent with each other about the benefit of growing buckwheat .
Unlike many screen crops , buckwheat is a broadleaf - non - leguminous , frost - sensitive flora that is idealistic for develop in the summertime . It can be planted between corn run-in or after spring crop ( such as kale , peas and Irish potato ) have been remove from the garden or it may be interplanted with other vegetables like winter squash .
Buckwheat has a number of admirable attributes : it is not picky about its environment , it does n’t require a lot of water , and it tolerate miserable soil fertility and acid soils(low pH down to around 5.0 ) . However , Fagopyrum esculentum does NOT like subtlety or concentrated soils . Buckwheat is a fast germinator(4 - 5 days)and can hit a full mature sizing of 2 - 3 feet within 5 - 6 weeks . This rapid growth plow buckwheat intoa weed suppressorbecause it forms a shade covering that spoil the outgrowth of Mary Jane . For this reason it is often referred to as a “ Smother Crop . ”
In addition to suffocate out weeds , buckwheat will do all kinds of beneficial things for your soil : it will protect the dirt surface from malarky and water supply erosion , meliorate the general strong-arm condition ( farmland ) of the soil , improve ground aeration and social organisation , promote microbic emergence , help retain soil moisture and slim soil crusting .
Buckwheat also captures nutrient — particularly phosphorus and calcium — from the soil that could otherwise be lost from leaching out . The captured nutrient are then unblock to later crop as the buckwheat residue break down . The roots of the plants produce soft Zen that trip slow - releasing constitutional fertiliser , such asrock phosphate . Buckwheat ’s dumb stringy root cluster in the top 10 inches of the dirt also prevents wearing and nutrient loss by slowing urine runoff from bare dirt .
The white flush bunch of buckwheat are very attractive to insects . An article published by the Virginia Cooperative Extension Office suggests that Fagopyrum esculentum is theultimate insectary flora . ( For more information on the insectary concept , seeThe Garden Shedarticle titled“Insectary ? ” ) . Buckwheat attracts a host ofbeneficial insectsand pollinators that include : epenthetic wasps , minute pirate bugs , hover fly ( syrphid fly ) , native bees and honey bees .
enquiry underway at the USDA indicate thatbuckwheat also attractsa small fly(Trichopoda pennipes ) that is aparasitoid ofstink bug . That alone is a benefit that makes buckwheat an outstanding cover crop option !
Buckwheat can be plant anytime after the last outpouring freeze ( May 15th ) and right up until late summer ( until about 60 days before the first killing frost — October 15).To flora Fagopyrum esculentum , send a cup of seed over 100 square feet ( or 1 pound per 300 to 500 square foundation ; or 70 to 100 pounds per acre ) and rake it in at a astuteness of 0.5 to 1.5 inches . It will sprout , grow and start to flower within six to seven hebdomad .
If you are only growing one crop , the buckwheat plants should be cut downwithin 10 daysafter the plant begins to flower , to prevent the plant life from reseeding and becoming a pot . However , if you are planning a sequential planting or using the buckwheat craw to attract beneficial insect , the plants should be leave to bloom for at least 20 days , the clip require for the beneficial insects to bring on a new generation .
The major plague that smite buckwheat is deer , so you may want to protect your crop by fencing in the area , or you may occasionally spray your Fagopyrum esculentum with a cervid repellent .
Buckwheat is one of theeasiest cover cropsto grow , and is one of the best for preventing depletion of territory nutrients and for lend organic topic to the soil . Buckwheat has the extra economic value of pull good insects . To say the least , I am hook on buckwheat !
Thanks for stopping byThe Garden Shed . We hope to see you again next calendar month !
root :
“ Buckwheat Cover Crop Handbook , ” Cornell University , http://www.hort.cornell.edu / bjorkman / lab / buck / handbook / intro.php
“ Buckwheat , ” United States Department of Agricultural ( USDA ) Plant Guide , https://plants.usda.gov / plantguide / pdf / pg_faes2.pdf
“ Buckwheat : A Multi - Purpose , Short - Season Alternative,”University of Missouri Extension , Publication No . G4306,http://extension.missouri.edu / p / G4306
“ improve Pest Management with Farmscaping , ” Virginia Cooperative Extension Publication ENTO-52NP , http://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu / ENTO / ENTO-52 / ENTO-52.html
“ Crop Rotation and Soil Tilth , ” Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education ( SARE),http://www.sare.org / Learning - Center / Books / Crop - Rotation - on - Organic - Farms / Text - Version / Physical - and - Biological - Processes - In - Crop - Production / Crop - Rotation - and - Soil - Tilth
“ Green Alternatives May Control Stink Bugs and help oneself Monarch Butterflies,”Entomology Today , https://entomologytoday.org/2025-04-10 / green - choice - may - control - reek - bugs - and - help - monarch - butterflies/
