Buckwheat Food Plots for Deer Hunting
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- Опубліковано 8 сер 2020
- Build your soil with Buckwheat. This plant grows like crazy and adds a TON of organic matter to your soil. Because of the fast growth and dense canopy, buckwheat smothers most annual weeds, conserves moisture and protects the soil from erosion. We planted this buckwheat 7 weeks to the day prior to filming this video and it had started to flower about 2 weeks before that. Buckwheat will go to seed 2 to 3 weeks after your first start noticing the flowers. To make sure you don't have any unwanted buckwheat growing within your fall plot, make sure to terminate the stand before the crop goes to seed. Buckwheat is not frost tolerant so it does not make a good option for your fall food plot. The recommended seeding rate for buckwheat is around 50 lbs / acre.
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Plant it first time just for bees 🐝 such a miracle and very delicious plant 🌱😍
I had to unsubscribe from that other guy who boast about himself all the time. He’s good just hard to watch. I enjoyed this video. Very informative and well laid out. Subbed 👍
Thanks for the sub! We try to make these videos as we do the habitat work on our properties and try to be as real as possible showing our successes and failures. Hopefully a few of them help you out! Good luck this season!!
Never thought I would be excited to plant buckwheat but this video has me looking forward to May! Thanks for making this video.
It's a fun plot to plant! Grows fast and once it flowers you'll have SOO many bees.
Thanks for the info. You did a fantastic job delivering the information -- no extra fluff, not too fast, not too slow. Well done.
Thanks! I appreciate that. Thanks for watching!
Came back to get any information I could thank you so much for taking the time to make this video really is good
Thanks again Steve! Really appreciate it!
Yes…great job on this video. Packed full of information. Well put together. I just subscribed.
Thanks Scott! Appreciate it man!
Excellent video, as always. Thanks for the concise, clear instructions and information. Very helpful.
Thanks Ron! Appreciate it!
Good video. Great explanation of the how, what, where, when and why.
excellent video...well done!!...plenty of facts and understandable
Thanks Brad!!
Here in Southwest Missouri- I'm prepping some ground for a plot. Moving forward, I'm thinking I'll plant BWheat mid-June, then mow & rake it mid-August. At that point, my plan is to broadcast and aerate oats, ladino clover, and cereal rye into what I'm hoping becomes a real "honey-hole". I would appreciate your thoughts regarding my plan!!!
That's a pretty nice looking stand
It came in great! Better than expected that's for sure. I was planning on having some seed loss to birds / heavy rain but I don't think we had any.
Ur the man!!!!
Haha thanks for watching!
Ty for your opinion appreciate it
Anytime! And make sure to cage those fruit trees. The deer will destroy them is left out in the open.
Got to say this was a great video. Very informative. I have been watching all the other guys about buckwheat and you explained a lot in a perfect amount of time.
I do have a question if you have a long enough summer can you get a double crop out of just one seeding?
Thanks Buck! And yes you can if you're able to get it into the ground early enough, but it would be tight. It's easier for the guys in the south because they have a longer growing season. Here in Michigan we can get frosts into late May and sometimes early June, which is kryptonite to buckwheat. I like to plant around the first or second week of June then wait the 7-8 weeks which puts me at the end of July / early August. That's when I like to get the fall plots planted (minus the rye) as long as there is rain in the forecast.
So if you are able to plant the buckwheat earlier and are ok with planting the fall plots a little later, you could get in two rotations.
Check out this link, it does a pretty good job explaining the growth cycle of buckwheat.
www.hort.cornell.edu/bjorkman/lab/buck/guide/buckgrowthphotos.php
This is JUST what I've been looking for! I am starting new plots in SC. Terrible soil, 4.72 PH. I limed and want to plant buckwheat and crimson clover to start building my soil. I have set target of 2025 to hunt on property so have time to make improvements. My question, should I plant a perennial (clover, chicory) with buckwheat/crimson this spring, or wait until buckwheat/crimson has had a chance to provide some soil improvement and then add perennials? Awesome videos, thanks for sharing great knowledge base!!
I let mine seed out the first time here in Alabama, then when it re-plants itself I terminate it before seeding the final time. I figure it keeps much of it from coming up with my fall plants. I just subscribed, appreciate the information.
That’s is a solid plan Jeremy! I actually almost accidentally did that myself, except it was when I was trying to plant my fall plots 😳
If you want to make sure the buckwheat doesn’t go to seed just make sure it starts putting energy into the seeds, then either roll / crimp it or cut it low. That will terminate the crop.
If you cut it before it starts making seeds the plant will rebound and continue to grow.
If you cut it too late, it will reseed itself and you’ll have another stand of buckwheat. But like you said, this is a great option for improving your soil throughout the summer!
Very informative video! I am really happy this plant is in the cover crop mix I got. Can't wait to see it grow, cuz it looks like it produces a ton of biomass.
Thank you! And this is a great summer cover crop if you are looking for a lot of biomass and building your soil!
Good info and timing. I’m wondering if I go two rotations if that will create too much thatch for a fall planting of brassica or clover. Also, is two rotations possible before fall planting in mid Aug
Yes, in good conditions buckwheat only needs 6-7 weeks to flower. If you’re planting your fall seeds in mid to late Sept you’ve got time for 2 rotations. I’m doing the same in really sandy dirt this week.
Chase nailed it. Depending on where your property is located, If you plant in late may /early June you should be able to get 2 rotations of buckwheat before putting your fall seed down. Buckwheat breaks down fast so I wouldn’t worry about the thatch from the previous planting.
This will be the second year I use buckwheat it’s great for the soil and my organic matter has improved greatly also going to be using for the 1st time liquid lime and fertilizer as well as calcium lot easier then hauling 50# bags just simply mix with water and spray thinking of incorporating some fruit trees apple/pear on the outer perimeter of my 3/4 acre foodplot any suggestions pleas feel free ty
I have never used the liquid products so I can’t comment on those but I will say you’re soil is thanking you with the continuous buckwheat plantings.
I like both pear and apples but if I had to pick, I’d pick pears and crabapples for the plots. Tend to be more disease resistant and deer love them.
Great video, I have a question, can you spread fall seeding into buckwheat then mow instead of rolling it ? I did that last year and had to much buckwheat that drowned out my seeding underneath. And do you spray after mowing or is there no need to? Thanks
Great question Mark. I would say yes you should be able to broadcast your fall seeds into your standing buckwheat then either roll/crimp the buckwheat or mow/mulch the buckwheat. It breaks down really quick as its mostly moisture. I'm surprised you had issues with but it's not impossible. There are also of factors so it's really tough to know what exactly resulted in your seeds not coming up. I do spray glyphosate immediately after seeding and smashing the buckwheat down. Glyphosate is what's called a 'post emergent' meaning it only kills living plants, so it will not hurt your seeds. And I will spray if I am rolling to make sure it doesn't pop back up. If I am mowing, I might spray if the buckwheat hasn't started to go to seed. Once it 'goes to seed' it stops putting energy into overall growth, but if it hasn't started to 'go to seed' it might just come back after you mow it, so spraying will be the final nail in the coffin. Hope that makes sense!
New subscriber here... I'm also from Southern Michigan (Monroe county).County.. I'd love to get 2 stands of buckwheat in next spring/summer... the field is currently lawn grasses that I killed off back in September with Gly... do you recommend using a drag harrow, then seeding the buckwheat, then dragging and packing?
You will most likely need to hit it one more time with gly in the late spring / late may time period. But once you wait a week or two for the grass / weeds to die back you can begin to prep the soil bed. Buckwheat is a bigger seed you you'll want to plant it a little deeper. Run your drag with the teeth down through the plot to loosen up the soil, it's probably going to be tough if it hasn't been worked recently so it might take a while but you can do it with a drag. The drag shouldn't loosen up the soil too deep so you can most likely seed immediately after. Then run the drag with the teeth up to cover the seeds. Run over everything with a cultipacker, lawn roller or your atv tires and you should be good! You want to plant 7-8 weeks before you want to seed your fall plot, so just keep that in mind when as well.
I'm in Wisconsin by lake Michigan and was wondering when I should plant buckwheat if I want to plant brassica for my fall planting. This would be my first time. Thanks
Hey James! You kinda need to do a little backwards math to figure out the buckwheat planting date. For brassicas, I like to plant them as early as I can in August to give them as much time to grow before the season. Buckwheat grows fast and only needs about 6-8 weeks to reach it's full size. It will then stop putting energy into growth and start putting energy into making seeds. This is when you want to terminate buckwheat and you have about 2 weeks to do it before the seeds form and you run the risk of a lot of volunteer buckwheat making their way into your fall plot. So that being said, I like to plant my buckwheat before a rain in mid or early June. That puts my 6-8 weeks right at the end of July / Beginning of August. Hope that helps!
Great info! Question: If I do want 2 stands this year (spring and early summer) would I need to terminate the first stand before the buckwheat seeds and start over for the 2nd stand, or can I just let the first stand go to seed and re-grow for my second stand. The 2nd stand being the one I will broadcast fall seed into? I prefer to try and get 2 stands of buckwheat in before fall plot for soil building. Thanks!
Thanks Ryan! For the second crop, I would broadcast the recommended amount of seed into the first stand, then terminate before it goes to seed. The issue with letting the first crop go to seed is that each plant will produce a lot of seeds, resulting in over-seeding. You can have too much haha. So seed, let it mature 6-8 weeks, seed into the first stand, terminate, let it mature again for 6-8 weeks, seed fall crop into the second stand, terminate.
@@whitetailevolution that’s what I needed. Thanks! And best of luck on the sale 👍
Just came across your channel today. Really, really enjoy it and am now a subscriber! One question about buckwheat - do you have any knowledge of how it does in wetter soil? Have an area I would like to try, but don't want to waste the time or money if it buckwheat does not tolerate that type of soil. Thanks. Good luck with the channel, really appreciate the content and method of presentation.
Hey Roland! From what I have seen, buckwheat does alright in light to medium soil that drains well. So I guess it would depend on how wet you’re talking and how long it stays wet. My ground has a lot of clay, is wet but it drains.. I do have one plot that floods regularly and I’ve tried alsike clover which likes wet soil. It has come up great and the deer like it. That’d be my recommendation for a food plot seed in a wet area.
@@whitetailevolution Thanks for getting back to me and also for the recommendation.
Good info. I never knew I wasn't supposed to turn my sandy soil. I've spent money on different food plot mixes and saw nothing germinate. I'm going to try buckwheat since I deer hunt and keep bees as well. Would you recommend a layer of compost with buckwheat seed in order to get it to stay moinst and germinate?
Different soil type can handle tilling better than others. With sandier soil, tilling will unfortunately flip more sand to the top. If you are planting buckwheat for the first time into a new food plot, I would kill the weeds, then a few weeks later lightly scratch the surface with a disc or a drag to loosen up the soil. Seed the buckwheat then run over the plot with a drag and then pack the seeds down with a cultipacker, lawn roller or your ATV tires. Larger seeds like buckwheat will do better if they are covered. Make sure to plant before a rain and the plot should germinate!
Do you have a recommendation for a cover crop/weed suppressant for the spring? Would April in Nebraska be too early for buck wheat?
We use cereal rye from the previous year. We plant the rye in early September as a winter cover crop, it comes back strong in the spring and then we can seed the summer cover crops into the rye, then terminate. Check out videos featuring Gabe Brown, he was the pioneer on cover cropping and is a great resource for trying to set up a no-till rotation.
If i don't have a crimper, will a cultipacker do the job the same as a crimper?
For the most part yes, you just need to make sure you are rolling over the buckwheat with enough weight to crust the plant. You could use a heavy drag as well, really anything to smash it down. I like to also follow up with a round of glyphosate to make sure that everything was killed.
Question-
In south georgia I've been doing some timber stand improvement and been cutting down large magnolias, unwanted trees and privet. I want to plant something that will grow in acidic soil, die by the spring so I can burn as fuel. What and when?
That's a great question Scott and I actually am not as familiar with your zone and what would thrive. What would really grow well here in Michigan would not do so hot down in the warm South. I'm sorry I don't have an answer for you on that. I just don't want to give poor advice.
Do you have to amend the soil in any way, lime, fertilizer etc based on a soil test for buckwheat or does it grow in pretty much anything?
Absolutely. The first step to any food plot is a soil test and I get one done either every year or every other year depending on the plot and where I am with amending the soil. Buckwheat is fairly tolerant of different soil types but you should always get a soil test.
We have another video on Liming Food Plots you should check out. That one focuses more on getting the PH right with lime.
When you terminate the buckwheat, do you need to spray glyphosate on it? Or can I get away with rolling it down, then disking with an atv disc? I don’t want to use herbicide but also want a good product. Thoughts?
So if you want a 100% kill guaranteed, use chemical. BUT I did exactly what you described in the past, without chemical, and it worked just fine. A few popped plants back up here and there but I terminated 95% of the buckwheat by rolling and then chopping it with the disc. Make sure to seed prior to rolling.
Is simply brush hogging the buckwheat an alternative to 'terminating' it?
Absolutely! Just make sure that the buckwheat has stopped growing and started to put energy into making the seeds. You'll see the seeds starting to form and they'll be gooey if you pinch them, that's when you can cut it. If you cut buckwheat too soon when it's still actively growing it will respond by continuing to grow.
Liked and subscribed! Is buckwheat a candidate for frost seeding?
Thanks Evan! Glad to have you back!
But to answer your question, Buckwheat is not something you’d want to frost seed. Buckwheat is not frost tolerant and if you planted too close to the last frost date the stand would likely die.
Whitetail Evolution LLC i found this one very interesting and I’m glad to be back! It’s exciting to see some of the bucks on your trail cams. Going to be a good season this year!
Instead of doing two full rotations by terminating the first one. Can you just let it grow up intil it starts to flower and mow it down and let it grow again for another month?? Thanks
Hey Larry, just saw this comment. It would all depend on when you mow. I THINK that if you mowed it early on, and not super short, the buckwheat would bounce back and keep growing. However, once the growing period stops and the plant starts to develop seeds it would die after you cut it.
Most annual crops have a similar life cycle. For example, I spilled a ton of rye in my yard and continued to mow it with my grass. This kept it short and constantly growing. The rye in my food plots was left alone to mature and once that rye developed seed heads I went in and mowed it down, which killed it. But the rye in my yard was still 4" tall and growing..
If I was you I would let the buckwheat mature, start to develop seeds and then terminate after seeding the fall mix into the stand.
New to cover crops , if I planted in may and just let it reseed it self till Sept when I want to plant my fall crop . Will this work ??
Hey Steve, If you let buckwheat reseed itself it would likely come back too thick as each individual plant would drop tons of viable seeds. If you wanted two rotations, it would be best to seed the new buckwheat into the existing stand and then crush it.
Sorry know it’s late but in your opinion how high do the cages need to be
That's a great question and honestly I've found that it varies by the deer density and the available food. One of our properties I have 3 foot high fences that are 3 feet away from the tree on all sides and the deer don't touch them. However that area has a lower deer density and we plant a ton of food. We have another property that the cages need to be 5 foot high at least 3-4 feet away from the trees or the deer will destroy them.
If I were you, I'd play it safe and put up 5 foot fences. It's not worth doing all that work to have the deer kill your tree.
You stated in one of your answers to a question you get fall plots started in the buckwheat early August, but "minus the winter rye " I'm planning on buckwheat as my cover crop till I'm starting my annual fall plots of winter rye grain..first year doing it this way,as I don't want to be spraying 2-3× till fall plot seeding..here in central MN, when would you plant the buckwheat..early July, then 8-12 weeks later rye seeded into buckwheat, flattened, then glyphosate sprayed..I'm planning on over seeding the rye 1 or 2x
How long after brush hoggin / spraying an overgrown field should I wait to seed? I know some crops you can spray and seed immediately after, but unsure of buckwheat.
There are a couple different answers and it would depend on how you prepare the seedbed. If you have exposed soil already, you can spray and then seed immediately after, the seeds will sit on the soil and any dying vegetation will fall down protecting your seeds. If you do not have exposed soil, I would spray and wait for the vegetation to die / expose the soil before seeding. Some areas you might need to spray more than once..
@@whitetailevolution ok thanks, I sprayed last week, hopefully by this weekend is enough time, Got a late start and need to get that buckwheat in ASAP, thanks.
How long after terminating the first stand of Buckwheat do you reseed for the second stand or do you broadcast into standing Buckwheat and then crimping it?
If you are trying to get two crops of buckwheat in the summer I would seed the second planting right into the existing stand of buckwheat and then either crimp it down or mulch it down. The buckwheat thatch layer will be great protection for the seeds underneath. Then if you wanted, you could plant your fall plot the same way. Just make sure time it out right. You need the buckwheat to grow for about 6 weeks then you can smash it down.
@@whitetailevolution When you say mulch it down your taking your mower to it right , could i do the same thing with mine fall seeds init and then mow over it ?
I guess small seed can be broadcasted after crimping or rolling? Larger seeds prior
I would broadcast all seeds prior to crimping. Doing so after will leave them on top of that mulch layer and you'll most likely have a poor germination.
Is 4 to 5 weeks enough growth for buckwheat to use as a cover crop for brassica's etc ???
Yes and no, if you only get 5 weeks out of the buckwheat you can terminate the crop but because it most likely didn't start to put energy into the seeds it has a greater chance of springing back up. Just make sure when you roll it that you follow up with an application of glyphosate.
Thank you very much .
Do I have to kill my existing weeds and grasses before I play buckwheat in a new plot area?
Yes
would you prefet buckwheat or doewheat? im assuming you would want some buck but i feel like you would want some doe as well to even out the herd.
Haha dang it 910th! If you plant a doewheat plot I’ll come over and we can film a video on it 😂
should the seed be water soaked prior to spreading?
No
I’ve been following Jeff sturgis of whitetail habitat solutions he’s been to my property bout 3 yrs ago has advised and guided me that being said you seem like a person who is on top of your game looking fwd to communicating with you if that’s okay with you
I appreciate that! I will say I don't have near the experience as guys like Jeff, he is up at the top, but I only make a video on something once I've done it myself. So I might not have all the answers but I will try my best to give you the best advice!
Doesn’t sound good. Too many problems with it.
It's not for everyone. If you don't have a way to either crush it down or mulch it up then maybe don't plant buckwheat. However, it is a great smother crop and soil builder. So if you have very sandy soil I would plant buckwheat in the summer and cereal rye in the fall to build the soil over a few years. Some people are blessed with great soil right away and don't "need" to plant buckwheat. But I wouldn't say it's a complicated plant to establish or terminate. Great if you or your neighbors have bees too!