Wild Buckwheat

Pest Profile: Wild Buckwheat

Tips on identifying and controlling wild buckwheat, an annual broadleaf weed pest that is highly crop competitive and resistant to Group 2 herbicides.

With a fibrous root system that makes it drought-tolerant and highly competitive, a ropy, vine-like structure that easily chokes up combines during harvest and resistance to Group 2 chemicals, wild buckwheat can be a huge headache for growers in the Prairies. It’s tough to kill even during spring burn-off, but effective management is possible using multiple modes of action through tank mixes or combination products.
Pest Profile
October 11, 2021
6min read
Wild Buckwheat

TYPE

  • Annual
  • Broadleaf

IDENTIFICATION

The stems are slightly angular, 12 – 35 inches long, trailing on the ground or twining on other plants and freely branching at the base. The leaves are heart-shaped, pointed,1/2 – 3 inches long, alternate and smooth. The flowers are greenish-white, small and appear in leaf axils or at the tips of branches.

CONTROL TIPS

  • When scouting, check moist, low-lying areas for patches of wild buckwheat.
  • A pre-seed burn-off is recommended with no-till systems.
  • Scout fields early because this weed is most sensitive to herbicides.
  • During its initial growth stages.

REGISTERED HERBICIDES

1 Use highest rate listed for suppression.
2 Suppression.
3 Control with additional 2,4-D
 

Please read each label to determine which herbicide is appropriate for the crop affected.

Always read and follow label directions.

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