How to Grow and Care for Sorghum

The grain of grain sorghum is utilized for human consumption, animal feed, and ethanol manufacturing. It is commonly grown in tropical and subtropical countries, originating in Africa. The grain is used to make liquor, animal feed, and bio-based ethanol, among other things.

Experts consider johnson grass (Sorghum halepense) to be one of the ten worst weeds in the world. If frost or heat causes the plant to wilt, it can produce enough hydrogen cyanide to kill livestock. It grows at such a prodigious rate, it can choke out other crops. It’s named after Colonel William Johnson, an Alabama plantation owner who sowed lots of its seed around 1840.

A hybrid species, the sudan grass is commonly used to fill in dry patches of land, as it grows fast and fills in thick. It is also used as a cover crop and a highly-digestible forage plant. The plant is known to be poisonous to animals.

Glossy wild sorghum (Sorghum nitidum) is characterized by its glossy, upright stems and broad, lance-shaped leaves, presenting a vibrant green hue. It thrives in open, sunny environments where its plume-like flower clusters—light and airy—can dance on the breeze. Glossy wild sorghum exhibits resilience in drier soils, its deep root system anchoring it firmly, drawing sustenance even from less fertile ground. Its growth patterns and morphological traits reveal a plant well-adapted to both cultivation and wild meadows.