Buckwheat planting

[270 sniper]

I broadcasted some buckwheat two weeks ago into last yrs brassica and winter rye plots. After broadcasting the seeds we sprayed the fields with gly and as of today nothing is growing. I am in NE PA and there may not have been much rain in the last 2 weeks. Is there still hope something will grow.

 

[Robert86]

Did you run over the seed with a cultipacker?

 

[MRBB]

can you still see the seeds you broadasted?
if not,
birds and such may have eaten them

every time I ever did buckwheat, I always disc'd the seeds into the ground, or at least turned over the ground first before seeding and then cultipacked them in
I know throw and grow is a popular way of planting many things, but IMO< nothing beats getting seeds in the d=[soil for better results!
MY suggestion is, if you still see seeds laying about on top of soil,
is maybe do a light disc and re seed some extra new seeds
buckwheat typically grows easy and fast in sub par soils
but , its no magic seed,, it has to have contact with soil to start growing and then soil must have enough nutrients to allow it to mature and strive!

DID you happen to do a soil test before seeding?
I have planted buckwheat many many times in NE Pa over the past 40 yrs or so!, so a little experience with them in NE PA

 

[Foggy47]

I've read some reports that spraying after broadcasting seeds can have an ill-effect on viable seed. Dunno - I know this is debateable. Also....whenever I plant these days....I put a few seeds in a wet paper towel and stick that in a plastic bag.....and check for germination in a few days. At lease you then know the seeds CAN geminate.....or not.

 

[Diesel5610]

I am in your area and we haven’t had enough rain to really do much for broadcast seed. At this point it will depend on if your seed has been picked by wildlife or is still there and if we get some much needed rain. I am guessing the plot is still dead, you could reseed and hope for much needed rain. If you could pack the plot it would help.

Did I say we needed some rain?

 

[bigboreblr]

Going to find out about my buckwheat next weekend. Spread winter rye, buckwheat, clovers, and a bit of raddish and canola on the 20th of june. Mowed a weedy log landing, added 1 ton/acre lime, 200lbs/acre triple 15. Mowed, scratched it up a bit with a spring harrow. spreaded seed, then scratched it some more.

Water is low.......

 

[Wild Thing]

Very likely a combination of the seed not being covered, lack of rain and the Gly killing at least some of the seed. You should broadcast seed only after the Gly has dried.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwimwLumjcv4AhXoK0QIHSTHDBQQFnoECAUQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.michigan-sportsman.com%2Fthreads%2Fglyphosate-vs-seed-germination-results.735650%2F&usg=AOvVaw3t_jJqVSqYyHm0gQmaqjNt

 

[270 sniper]

I figured I Try the way I did after seeing some YouTube post On no till. My PH is @ 6.5 and I always throw a couple of bags of lime down every yr. To keep it that way. I seeded 3 plots and no growth in any of them. At $70 a bag I might as well buy 2 1/2 gallon of gly and roundup the plots again in the mid of July for my fall plantings.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I checked on my buckwheat plot last night. It really took off this past week and is starting to take over some of the weeds. Other spots the early flush of weeds took over and the buckwheat couldn't keep up. That portion of the plot will get a heavy dose of cereal come fall.

 

[omicron1792]

I figured I Try the way I did after seeing some YouTube post On no till. My PH is @ 6.5 and I always throw a couple of bags of lime down every yr. To keep it that way. I seeded 3 plots and no growth in any of them. At $70 a bag I might as well buy 2 1/2 gallon of gly and roundup the plots again in the mid of July for my fall plantings.

I assume all three bags were the same brand? I planted several plots with buckwheat and several different brands. Some are doing great, and one plot the buckwheat germinated, turned yellow and died.

I read that sometimes it can have mold on it in the bag. Might want to buy a bag from another company and throw it out there and see what happens.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Our camp is in NC Pa. and if we don't cover the buckwheat seed by discing or cultipacking - the turkeys find the seed and eat every kernel of it. It doesn't even get a chance to germinate. If you don't have a set of discs or a cultipacker - try dragging a piece of chain-link fence over the soil a time or two to get that seed covered.

Other birds, squirrels, & mice will all eat the seed if they can see it. We learned the hard way with turkeys.

 

[yoderjac]

I broadcasted some buckwheat two weeks ago into last yrs brassica and winter rye plots. After broadcasting the seeds we sprayed the fields with gly and as of today nothing is growing. I am in NE PA and there may not have been much rain in the last 2 weeks. Is there still hope something will grow.

Yep, you need rain. Buckwheat germinates better in my soils if cultipacked. I regularly spray gly after broadcasting seed with no statistically significant impact. If you are concerned, simply wait till you have rain in the forecast and broadcast more buckwheat. Cultipack if you can.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Our camp is in NC Pa. and if we don't cover the buckwheat seed by discing or cultipacking - the turkeys find the seed and eat every kernel of it. It doesn't even get a chance to germinate. If you don't have a set of discs or a cultipacker - try dragging a piece of chain-link fence over the soil a time or two to get that seed covered.

Other birds, squirrels, & mice will all eat the seed if they can see it. We learned the hard way with turkeys.

I have the same problem with sunflowers. I get little germination. If I walk around the plot I can see the seed casings everywhere that are cracked open laying on top. If i have heavy thatch I get much better germination because the birds do not get to them.

 

[Foggy47]

I have the same problem with sunflowers. I get little germination. If I walk around the plot I can see the seed casings everywhere that are cracked open laying on top. If i have heavy thatch I get much better germination because the birds do not get to them.

I was just thinking about that yesterday when taking a few pics of my plots. That rye (standing or rolled into mulch) was keeping lots of song birds from eating all the seeds and newly emergent crops from being immediately consumed. Same goes for shallow drilled seeds. I think it is a big factor. HUGE.

 

[yoderjac]

I have the same problem with sunflowers. I get little germination. If I walk around the plot I can see the seed casings everywhere that are cracked open laying on top. If i have heavy thatch I get much better germination because the birds do not get to them.

Sunflowers have fairly large seeds that don't T&M well. I can't surface broadcast and cultipack sunflowers, beans, corn. or similar crops with good success. On the other hand, if I drill these with my no-till drill I get great germination. I don't think it is a matter of seed predation, they simply want to be planted deeper than surface. I can surface broadcast buckwheat and sunn hemp and cultipack and get very good germination. We have very good turkey populations but also good habitat with plenty of turkey foods. I'm sure turkey eat some seed, but not enough to have a major impact. We have plenty of vegetation forming mulch that hide seed. Lack of rain is key for all perspectives. Rain make germination much faster. The longer without rain, the more available the seed is for predation or other negative factors.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Sunflowers have fairly large seeds that don't T&M well. I can't surface broadcast and cultipack sunflowers, beans, corn. or similar crops with good success. On the other hand, if I drill these with my no-till drill I get great germination. I don't think it is a matter of seed predation, they simply want to be planted deeper than surface. I can surface broadcast buckwheat and sunn hemp and cultipack and get very good germination. We have very good turkey populations but also good habitat with plenty of turkey foods. I'm sure turkey eat some seed, but not enough to have a major impact. We have plenty of vegetation forming mulch that hide seed. Lack of rain is key for all perspectives. Rain make germination much faster. The longer without rain, the more available the seed is for predation or other negative factors.

Thanks,

Jack

When I have seed shells laying on top of the ground that are cracked open i can only imagine that an animal of some sort is to blame. When I have them under thatch and we get good rain they grow just fine.

 

[yoderjac]

When I have seed shells laying on top of the ground that are cracked open i can only imagine that an animal of some sort is to blame. When I have them under thatch and we get good rain they grow just fine.

Quite possible. Much has to do with your soils. Seed that surface broadcasts ok in one soil type may not do so in another. For me, I get poor sunflower germination regardless of seed predation when surface broadcast. I get good germination when drilled, but they don't last long with my deer.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I have the same problem with sunflowers. I get little germination. If I walk around the plot I can see the seed casings everywhere that are cracked open laying on top. If i have heavy thatch I get much better germination because the birds do not get to them.

S.T. -
Good idea using the thatch. I might suggest that to our members for our next buckwheat seeding - and other crops as well. It seems you guys who use thatch from rye or other crops get better germination when you roll it down or spray it.

 

[yoderjac]

S.T. -
Good idea using the thatch. I might suggest that to our members for our next buckwheat seeding - and other crops as well. It seems you guys who use thatch from rye or other crops get better germination when you roll it down or spray it.

I'm sure that makes a difference from multiple perspectives. First, cultipacking the WR also presses the buckwheat into the ground for better seed/soil contact at the same time as knocking down the WR. The WR then dies and forms a mulch of sorts for the seed. This helps retain moisture around the seed resulting in quicker germination. Finally, it also helps hide the seed from predators. The most predation of seed I've seen is when guys frost seed clover on top of snow. The seed shows up well for birds and it is easy to get. It is put out at a time when other foods are often covered by snow and hard for birds to access. They will quickly wipe it out.

 

[MRBB]

I'll add this about planting things wildlife really enjoy's eating,
a while back I was trying to plant a sunflower plot, little over a 1/2 acre in size
I killed site, disc'd the plot, added fertilizer as needed(PH was good)
seeded plot, did a light disc and ran a cultipacker over it
had rain the following evening, perfect timing on rain(thought I was golden) , and more light rain mid week!
a full week goes by NOTHING, BUT entire plot was full of turkey tracks
HUMM
another week, nothing, but some weeds coming up
re spray site, re seed and cultipack, as soil still rather soft
again get lucky rained a day later!
week goes by NOTHING growing, again plot full of turkey tracks
me and farmer that owned the land agree, the dam turkey's must have ate all the seeds as you could see all there scratching up of the soil!

OK< # 3,, re disc site lightly, added a little more fertilizer, re seeded, and rolled again,, and THIS time, me and the farmer took a few dozen hay bales down and with his hay spreader we covered the whole plot with hay
figuring this would slow the turkeys down, allowing for seeds to start growing
we again got lucky, had god light rain , and good weather for a good take!

3 days later go check on plot, the entire plot was just dirt, them turkey's raked all the hay completely off the plot site !
a 1/2 acre of hay was now piled up in a row all around where we planted??
just amazing what they did!

and well, I gave up trying tom plant sunflowers there after that!
Back to clover and it grew just fine, seems turkeys' didn't like clover seeds! HAHA! or too fine to find once rolled in good!

SO< wildlife can have a LOT to do with what your trying to plant, more than many think I bet!


t