How to grow Sorghum

Where to plant

Grow sorghum in full sun in well-drained soil. It tolerates heat, drought and poorer soil better than corn, but it still yields best with some compost and steady moisture during heading. Penn State suggests a soil pH near 6.

Wait until the soil has warmed to about 65°F at 2 to 4 inches deep before sowing. Seed sown into cold soil emerges poorly.

• Florida, the Gulf South and Texas: sow from April to June; Central and South Florida can also sow in late summer.
• Desert Southwest: sow in March or April, or in August.
• California: sow from spring into early summer.
• Mid-South, Mid-Atlantic and Southern Plains: sow from late April into July.
• Northeast, Midwest, Northern Plains and Mountain West: sow in late May or June once the soil is warm, and choose earlier varieties.
• Pacific Northwest west of the Cascades and Alaska: summers are usually too cool for a reliable crop.
• Hawaii: can be sown year round.

Choosing a variety

• Sweet (cane) sorghum, such as Sugar Drip, is grown for its sugary juice, which is boiled down into sorghum syrup.
• Grain sorghum is shorter and grown for its seed heads, used whole, popped or ground into gluten-free flour.
• Broom corn is a sorghum with long, stiff seed-head fibers used to make brooms and crafts.

How to plant

1. Work compost into the bed; sorghum is a heavy feeder of nitrogen.
2. Sow seed about 1 inch deep in rows 20 to 30 inches apart once the soil is warm.
3. Thin seedlings to about 6 to 8 inches apart when they are about 4 inches tall.
4. Plant in a block of several rows rather than a single line, which helps the plants support each other in wind.

Watering and feeding

Sorghum is drought tolerant and can wait out dry spells, but water deeply during flowering and grain fill for the best yield.

Side-dress with nitrogen when plants are knee high if growth is pale or slow.

Harvesting

For syrup, cut the canes around the soft dough stage of the seed, often about 120 days after planting, strip the leaves and press the stalks promptly; the juice is then boiled down into syrup.

For grain, let the heads ripen until the seeds are hard and colored, then cut whole heads and finish drying them under cover before threshing. Birds can strip a crop, so slip paper bags or fabric mesh over the heads once the flowers have finished.

Using it

Cook whole grain sorghum like rice or barley in salads and soups, pop it like popcorn, or grind it into flour. Sorghum syrup is a traditional Southern sweetener for biscuits and baking.