My Deer Garden

Planting Buckwheat for deer

Fagopyrum esculentum

Warm season

Taken readily, but not a first choice.

Seeding rate
50 to 60 lb
per acre, broadcast
Minimum plot
0.25 acre
smaller gets browsed out
Plant
Late spring through midsummer, after last frost

Rates are broadcast figures. Drilling runs roughly a third lower. These are starting points from extension guidance and have not yet been re-checked against a second source per record, so treat them as indicative and soil test before you buy seed.

Type
Food plot forage
Hardiness
Zones 3–10
Light
Full sun
Bloom
Summer and Fall
Maintenance
Low
Family
Polygonaceae
Toxic to
dogs, cats, and horses

About Buckwheat

The fastest way to get something growing on bad ground. Buckwheat germinates in days, canopies in three weeks, flowers in six, and will produce a crop on acid, low-fertility soil that defeats everything else here.

It is not primarily a deer draw. Preference is moderate and the plant is frost-tender, so it is finished by the first cold night. Its real uses are smothering weeds on a new plot before a fall planting, mining phosphorus into a form the next crop can use, and feeding pollinators heavily while it flowers.

The standard sequence on rough ground is buckwheat through the summer, mow or roll it in August, then plant brassicas or a cereal into the residue.

Broadcast at 50 to 60 lb per acre.

Protecting Buckwheat

Whether this survives comes down to local pressure, so decide on the options before it gets browsed rather than after.

  1. 1How tall a deer fence needs to beEight feet, and six is the most common expensive mistake in deer fencing.
  2. 2Repellent that actually worksThe egg-based recipe that reproduces the active ingredient in the commercial sprays that win university trials.
  3. 3Check it is actually deerDeer tear and leave a ragged stub. A clean 45-degree cut is rabbits, and slug holes get blamed on deer constantly.

Soil and care

Soil pH
5 to 7
Drainage
Well drained
Water
Low
Growth rate
Fast
Maintenance
Low

Where Buckwheat grows

Hardy across every state on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering. Select any state, including one it will not grow in, for what is resistant there.

Alabama — hardy here. Zones 7 to 9.Alaska — hardy here. Zones 1 to 8.Arizona — hardy here. Zones 5 to 10.Arkansas — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.California — hardy here. Zones 7 to 10.Colorado — hardy here. Zones 3 to 6.Connecticut — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Delaware — hardy here. Zones 7 to 7.District of Columbia — hardy here. Zones 7 to 8.Florida — hardy here. Zones 8 to 11.Georgia — hardy here. Zones 7 to 9.Hawaii — hardy here. Zones 9 to 12.Idaho — hardy here. Zones 3 to 7.Illinois — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Indiana — hardy here. Zones 5 to 6.Iowa — hardy here. Zones 4 to 6.Kansas — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Kentucky — hardy here. Zones 6 to 7.Louisiana — hardy here. Zones 8 to 10.Maine — hardy here. Zones 3 to 6.Maryland — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.Massachusetts — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Michigan — hardy here. Zones 4 to 6.Minnesota — hardy here. Zones 3 to 5.Mississippi — hardy here. Zones 7 to 9.Missouri — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Montana — hardy here. Zones 3 to 6.Nebraska — hardy here. Zones 4 to 6.Nevada — hardy here. Zones 4 to 9.New Hampshire — hardy here. Zones 3 to 6.New Jersey — hardy here. Zones 6 to 7.New Mexico — hardy here. Zones 4 to 9.New York — hardy here. Zones 4 to 7.North Carolina — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.North Dakota — hardy here. Zones 3 to 4.Ohio — hardy here. Zones 5 to 6.Oklahoma — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.Oregon — hardy here. Zones 6 to 9.Pennsylvania — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Rhode Island — hardy here. Zones 6 to 7.South Carolina — hardy here. Zones 7 to 9.South Dakota — hardy here. Zones 3 to 5.Tennessee — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.Texas — hardy here. Zones 6 to 9.Utah — hardy here. Zones 4 to 9.Vermont — hardy here. Zones 3 to 5.Virginia — hardy here. Zones 6 to 8.Washington — hardy here. Zones 5 to 8.West Virginia — hardy here. Zones 5 to 7.Wisconsin — hardy here. Zones 3 to 5.Wyoming — hardy here. Zones 3 to 6.
Hardy on zone rangeNot hardy — still linked
Choose a state from the listeasier on a phone

Common questions about Buckwheat

What is the seeding rate for Buckwheat?
Broadcast 50 to 60 lb per acre. Drilled rates run roughly a third lower. Soil test before buying seed, because pH matters more to the outcome than the rate does.
When should I plant Buckwheat?
Late spring through midsummer, after last frost. It is a warm-season crop and needs soil that has genuinely warmed, not just a frost-free date on a calendar.
How big does a Buckwheat plot need to be?
About 0.25 acres as a realistic floor. Below that, deer graze the crop faster than it establishes and you get bare ground instead of forage. Local deer density moves this number more than anything else.
Do deer actually eat Buckwheat?
Occasionally Severely Damaged on the four-step damage scale, which measures how heavily deer feed on a plant. On an ornamental that is a warning. On a food plot crop it is the specification.
What hardiness zones does Buckwheat grow in?
Buckwheat is hardy in USDA zones 3 to 10. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat.
Is Buckwheat toxic to dogs or cats?
Yes. The ASPCA lists Buckwheat as toxic to dogs, cats, and horses. Site it away from where animals graze, or choose something else if you have a dog that chews.

Browse from here

Every list Buckwheat belongs to.

Sometimes destroyed·Full sun plants·Food plot crops

Hardy in these zones

Zone 3·Zone 4·Zone 5·Zone 6·Zone 7·Zone 8·Zone 9

Damage ratings follow the four-step field scale published by Rutgers University. Growing data is compiled from state extension sources and still being verified record by record. Last reviewed .