Characteristics
- Leaves: elongated to heart-shaped
- Herbaceous, reddish stem
- Height: stem 30-80 cm → rapid growth and ground cover
- Flowers: white to pink
- Seeds: triangular pyramid shape
- Root: numerous fine roots in the topsoil region
Environmental needs
- Undemanding regarding location, soil and nutrients
- Not suitable for heavy, cold, wet, compacted soils
- Needs warmth, very sensitive to frost (suffers damage at temperatures below 3 °C)
- Sensitive to extremely dry conditions
Use
- Main crop Fagopyron esculentum (sowing between late May and early June)
- Forage mixture
- Good autumn bee forage, deer forage
- Cover crop
Green manure
- Neutral within crop rotation
- Good ground cover and weed suppressant due to rapid, abundant growth
- Advantage of rapid die-off at first frost
