Buckwheat · Norfolk, Virginia, United States

When to plant buckwheat in Norfolk

Main outdoor window

17-31 Mar

The window this page is built around.

Timed from last spring frost

10 March

In Norfolk, on your chosen risk.

Ready to pick

26 May - 15 Jun

If you plant at the start of the window.

The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.

Cautious Balanced Bold

Step by step in Norfolk

Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.

Sow direct

17-31 Mar

One week after your last frost.

Harvest

26 May - 15 Jun

Sow in succession. A single sowing gives you a single glut. Sow a short row every 30 days through the window above and you get a steady supply instead.

Frost tolerance

Tender

Damaged below

0°C (32°F)

Days to maturity

70–90

Min soil temp

10°C (50°F)

Spacing

15 cm

Sowing depth

20 mm (0.8 in)

Sun

Full

Buckwheat through the year

Against the frost risk in Norfolk

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Buckwheat

Frost risk Sow direct Harvest Today

Why these dates

Sow after the last frost, any time up to about eleven weeks before the first. Because it matures so fast it can follow an early crop and still finish, and it smothers weeds while doing so.

Killed outright by the lightest frost, which is exactly why it works as a summer cover crop that clears itself away in autumn.

Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Buckwheat are timed for direct sowing 1 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Norfolk.

The median frost-free season here is 272 days, against 70 to 90 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.

See every crop timed for Norfolk →

Nearby

Buckwheat in places close by

Chesapeake 3 km Virginia Beach 27 km Richmond 130 km Washington 237 km Raleigh 242 km

Also in Norfolk

Other grains to time

Soybeans tender Chickpeas half hardy Winter wheat very hardy Quinoa half hardy Cowpeas tender Spring wheat hardy Lentils hardy Mung beans tender Oats hardy Barley hardy Rye very hardy

Growing buckwheat in Norfolk

When should I plant buckwheat in Norfolk?

Aim for 17-31 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 4-18 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.

When will buckwheat be ready to harvest in Norfolk?

Expect to start picking around 26 May - 15 Jun, based on 70 to 90 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.

How much frost will buckwheat tolerate?

Killed outright by the lightest frost, which is exactly why it works as a summer cover crop that clears itself away in autumn.