Foliar Fertilizer

[Tap]

That is probably on the early side for your area. These are pretty gross and individual fields can vary greatly based on orientation and cover, but this shows soil temps in your general area are still pretty cool now compared to mine: https://www.agweb.com/weather/soil-temperatures/ Mid June is about the earliest I plant it to get a strong crop. Right now is about my end date. My end date is generally because rain becomes iffy after the 4th of July in my area.

Keep in mind that soil temperatures are not close to air temps. They are taken with a soil thermometer between 0800 and 0900 in the morning. A soil thermometer is inexpensive and has been one of my best bang for the buck investments.

Thanks,

Jack

I bought one last year. It's pretty surprising how the soil temp vary with things like slope exposure (North vs South), shade, amount of thatch/cover crop.
Neal Dougherty recommends to "plant by the compass". Amazing how soil temperature and moisture can change with a change in slope exposure. South slopes are almost always a few weeks ahead of North slopes in terms of plant development. And North slopes usually withstand summer stress better than South exposure slopes.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[bueller]

That is probably on the early side for your area. These are pretty gross and individual fields can vary greatly based on orientation and cover, but this shows soil temps in your general area are still pretty cool now compared to mine: https://www.agweb.com/weather/soil-temperatures/ Mid June is about the earliest I plant it to get a strong crop. Right now is about my end date. My end date is generally because rain becomes iffy after the 4th of July in my area.

Keep in mind that soil temperatures are not close to air temps. They are taken with a soil thermometer between 0800 and 0900 in the morning. A soil thermometer is inexpensive and has been one of my best bang for the buck investments.

Thanks,

Jack

I gotta disagree with this. I plant buckwheat nearly every year in Wisconsin and have done so for a while now. I plant on or around Memorial Day and always get a good stand. I've never planted as late as June 14th. Tootall71 is in OH. A mid June planting of buckwheat in that area that is struggling is highly likely NOT struggling because of soil temps. Tootall71, as I mentioned in the other thread. Get some nitrogen on that buckwheat quick and it will respond really well. Otherwise it will remain stunted and even flower and go to seed when it's less than a foot tall. I told you many would say that buckwheat doesn't need nitrogen but my experience has proven otherwise. For the record my soil is very sandy and naturally low on nutrients. I suspect yours may be similar.

https://library.ndsu.edu/repository/bitstream/handle/10365/9151/SF724_1992.pdf?sequence=1

 

[yoderjac]

I gotta disagree with this. I plant buckwheat nearly every year in Wisconsin and have done so for a while now. I plant on or around Memorial Day and always get a good stand. I've never planted as late as June 14th. Tootall71 is in OH. A mid June planting of buckwheat in that area that is struggling is highly likely NOT struggling because of soil temps. Tootall71, as I mentioned in the other thread. Get some nitrogen on that buckwheat quick and it will respond really well. Otherwise it will remain stunted and even flower and go to seed when it's less than a foot tall. I told you many would say that buckwheat doesn't need nitrogen but my experience has proven otherwise. For the record my soil is very sandy and naturally low on nutrients. I suspect yours may be similar.

https://library.ndsu.edu/repository/bitstream/handle/10365/9151/SF724_1992.pdf?sequence=1

It may depend on your soils and conditions. As I said, buckwheat will germinate at soil temps as low as 45 degrees. I get poor results when soil temps are below 65. They are usually in the low 70s by Memorial day. I get good results then, but if I wait until the last half of June, my buckwheat crops are outstanding. I'm sure soil temp is only one factor and I presume elevation can be an issue.

My suggestion that it may be on the early side for his area was based on that soil temperature map. There are parts of OH showing in the 60s. I extrapolated back and took a guess as to what his soil temps may have been at planting time based on how our long it takes for our soil temps to improve from the 50s to 60s and think it may be a bit early.

I tried to caveat that by saying how many things can affect soil temp. One thing I didn't mention was rain and soil types. Rain may keep clay soils that retain water cooler than sandy soils that are well drained. There are so many factors that without a soil thermometer, it is really hard to say for sure whether the timing was off. Lots of things we don't know here like the pH and soil type and fertility.

The more important point here is that with a short-term highly tolerant crop like buckwheat, foliar fertilizer is not a resolution. The issues are telling you something needs to be dealt with. It could be planting time, could be pH, could be nutrients, soil compaction, and a host of other possibilities. You could be completely right that soil temps are not the issue.

I completely agree with you that Buckwheat need Nitrogen. Whether it needs nitrogen added to the soil is a very different question. Part of the problem here is the thread starting with "what do you think of foliar fertilizers....I want to give my buckwheat a boost..." rather than "Here are the symptoms I'm seeing with my buckwheat, here is what I did in terms of soil testing, amendments, and planting....What is cause of these symptoms".

Thanks,

Jack