I live in northeast Missouri. Sudan grass likes hot dry weather, with occasional moisture. It can withstand wet soil for a period during the first two weeks or so. It loves sunshine and responds to nitrogen . I drilled 60 lbs of seed per acre. Which is near double the recommendation. But I wanted fine stems for cattle feed. My field was 13 acres of gently rolling hill ground. I seeded it during the last week of June. And mowed it the first week of august. It was at least 12 feet tall or more. with stems about the size or my thumb. . And yielded 230 tons of wet hay on the first cutting . Amazing stuff.
George Sparks LOL I was getting ready to question, then I saw your clarification. So I’ve just recently discovered this stuff. Do your cows like it? I’m in NE Texas which seems like the perfect environment for it.
@@georgesparks2194 whats your soil type and rainfall thru summer waiting for rains to plant here in central Fl. Its May 1st so rainy season starts now for us.
I grew a variety of Sorghum called Egyptian Wheat after viewing a video by Green Cover Seeds. This plant is awesome. I broadcast it in May behind the garage (6'x20') and terminated with an electric hedge trimmer around September 1st leaving a 6-8in stub. It max'd out at 8-10ft tall. My neighbors enjoyed the tall fence of green. I terminated the plant (leaving roots in-place) when a significant portion was going to seed and after a rain storm flatten most parts. Here's an interesting observation - this year we had more grasshoppers than the last 5 years combined. In that same area, I broadcast cereal rye, oats, radish and clover for the winter time.
@@DiegoFooter , . Horses teeth are the same as you and me flat 😬. Horses teeth bones Google it. Humans teeth bones google it. We have long long stomachs. Flat teeth. Little flat teeth 🦷😬-_ moving around. We are herbivores. Scientific fact. We choose to be meat eaters, then fat deposits clog in the arteries and cancer and high blood pressure and hard arteries no fibre if you eat animals, diabetes... 51% death rate !!! Is extremely high for a burger. 5 minute burger et cetera 🙄. Vegans have 4% cancer and that’s it. 20 years difference : 🧟♂️☠️🦠💩🍖🍳🥩🧀🥓🍗🍔🍣 76 years, average. No fibre. Stays in your body for six days or more puuuu-trifying ! Lots of plaque, if you eat animals ! Scientific fact !!! ✅❤️🦵💪😬🦷🌾🍄🌿🍠🌶🥑🍆🍒🍏🍊🥙🌮🍛 96 years, average !! No plaque !! Clean and freshest the boots and socks clean ! Lots of fibre !!! Scientific fact...
Great introduction of this grass for me. We have Johnson grass but it only has tall seed heads. Hearing chickens in the background, I was surprised that you didn't place it in the coop to reduce feed or fill up yet another bioreactor. Loved how you showed us a glimpse of what's next to your property. It highlights what you are achieving by the contrast.
I found what I thought was a corn plant at a house where they feed birds a lot, I took it home and planted it with my other corn, it turned out to be this, except it only gets one stock, and it only grows 4 feet high before making seed. Well it matured and I got a few hundred seeds, I planted it in rows where my corn was and now have about 100 plants off that one that I found. Its so cool how you can do that from just one seed. Next summer I believe my corn crop will do much better, I live in Florida and everything is still groming strong, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I wasn't sure the sorghum would make it to seed but they are, I planted them mid October. Zone 9B I believe...
@@michelifig6356 One of the three known photosynthetic reactions (C3, C4, and CAM). It is found in some warm-climate plants, especially grasses. The C4 reaction is more effective than the others in high temperatures, and also performs better with less access to water and nitrogen, so plants like this sorghum-sudangrass can grow much more quickly than most "typical" plants would under sub-optimal conditions. These are some of the same reasons that corn is a staple crop (it also uses C4 photosynthesis)
We used to mow and chop Sudangrass as forage for our dairy cows. Sudangrass was ridiculous! It would get seven, eight feet tall, tough to mow and chop. We would harvest it more than once, mowing a little high for regrowth. We would pasture it also but it had to be like 3 feet tall or so as prussic acid was strong in anything shorter. It would fill a silo!
Thank you for this video. I'm prepping my backyard (7.5KSF) to become a food forest. Zone 10 Ventura County. Heavy clay with little biology. Planning to buy this and start to repair it.
Thanks so much for sharing Diego! A favorite. I love the birds these bring, and the crop residue can be used at any stage as a structure for fine-structured. trailing/climbing crops
Thanks for the presentation. I did not know this grass also grows from seeds. I'm familiar with the grass, but have only seen it grow from cuttings. This information is of tremendous importance to me for a future project.
Thanks, Diego. I was unaware of that. I've been looking for a good feed for my rabbits and sudangrass is on the approved list. So there is another reason to grow it. The articles I found tout sudangrass for several reasons. The roots are able to break up compacted soil and the plant is drought tolerant. It can be mowed twice a year and would make good mulch.
I used to bicycle on the san gabriel river trail in Whittier and there was plenty of sorghum, and come to think of it I have seen it growing in marshy places all across the country. They are probably escapees from agricultural production. Very tall and prolific there. Maybe slightly invasive.
@@garydeforve5055 More like one of the world's greatest agricultural cover crops. Whoever said that doesn't know how cover crops work clearly. You run into problems with no grazers to chew it or humans/machines to chop it. It is far from a crop that you would call hands off, but implying it's invasive and weedy is just another way of saying it grows very well; it's a matter of purpose.
@@SuperReznative its called "invasive" plants, they take over and spreads, evasive means hide, escape or avoid. So if your using the plant in a way were it doesn't take over or spread, then its not invasive, if it seeds elsewhere and its not used for compost it will spread and take over its invasive to that spot it grows
I bought over 100 lbs of cover crop seeds for $58 bucks. Turner seed company. be sure to get uncoated seed, as they sell pesticide coated seed to conventional farmers.
Amazing! Some of the initiatives we have partnering with in Kenya and Thailand are also finding great results with Vetiver Grass.. Do you have experience with this amazing grass as well by any chance? Seem to be another one that just has unbelievable services for soil, livelihoods, and watershed health.
great video! last year a crazy plant grew beneath my birdfeeder and i finally figured out it was sorghum. i saved the seed head and im testing some seeds from it to see if theyll germinate [it was a bit of a late season growing time for the plant] if they dont work out ill just buy some more seeds though because i think it looks really cool+it would be fun to put out the dried seedheads in winter for the birds. 🌿👍
I bought myself a nice shredder, where I put through all my compost ingredients for my Johnson Su Bioreactor .. this will be a nice source to add to my microgreens residue and the woodchips. Thanks Diego!
I must say I myself wouldn't call someone crazy for rigging up one of those but I would like to know your logic before I pass judgment. Why make an expensive bioreactpr that takes fossil fuel energy to run? Why not just spread organic matter in layers with depleted dirt to make nice healthy soil?
@@coleweede1953 Why would a Johnson Su Bioreactor consume any fossil fuels? Why do you think that any judgment has to be made in this matter ... but ok, here we go: In my context it makes plenty of sense. I have limited space for composting and going vertical with no need to turn stuff and resulting in a highly fungal output seems to be a no-brainer. The shredder reduses the total volume of crop residues by at least 50% and the whole process of composting is done faster as well resulting in more time for aging and the final product can be broadcasted without any screening.
@@ronrover6594 an electric shredder would stull use fossil fuels but im guessing yours is gas. I had been taught that that style of reactor used forced air, if you don't have any electric fan then I suppose you don't use more fossil fuels but maybe some petroleum products like plastic liners. I don't mean to be mistaken on my statement, judgement by definition is neither positive nor negative I pass judgement and learn based on what I see and experience. that is all I don't mean to offend you I just wanted to learn why you chose it to fit your context which you shared publicly.
@@coleweede1953 It‘s alright, no worries 👍🏻 My composters are made out of wood without any liners, the shredder runs on electricity and our town supplies mostly hydro power. I water it with a 12V DC boat pump and rainwater that I collect myself. I only use PE pipe and considering the amount of carbon I sequester in my garden/micro farm I should carbon negative for sure. As it comes to fossil fuels I may very well be using some in the whole process but considering that I provide food for families in my neighborhood that don‘t have to commute to the supermarket to by imported vegetables I guess that will be fine as well 😉
I missed my window planting this, as I'd recently purchased the property and was busy in cleanup. I'm definitely planning on planting these as soon as the soil temperatures get up to 70°. In the meantime, I'm just starting the integration of quail/rabbits/etc., and have the first batch of vermicast almost cured. Going to maintain biodiverse aerobic microbes amd integrate soil food web principles into everything Geoff Lawton, Joel Salatin, both Dr. Inghams, Paul Stamets, etc taught me. Have to bring this dead dirt back to life. 😁
Integrating this with a ground cover and/or a climbing plant would also work well I recon... maybe something like clover, legumes, morning glory... or maybe even something like a squash. I see a lot of potential in this plant, especially as a very good source for home-made animal bedding and turning it into great compost after! Thanks for sharing
Great video. Also love your new podcast, keep up the great content! I will give Sorghum Sudan a try, I'm trying to build fertility in the high desert of CA.
Nice video. I will buy the seeds and plant this as feed for my chickens and goats. Its hot and dry where I live, so I hope it will do well with little watering once a week or so. I can put goat and/or chicken manure, either dry or as liquid fertiliser.
Its definitely a grass that grows tall for animal feed, never thought of it for a cover crop for the garden. It does have limitations with frost and being able to feed it
I know lots of people who plant sudangrass I don't plant it because a lawnmower or weed eater can't really cut it everyone I know uses a special mower and then they till it other wise I would use it in my garden that's 1/4 acer but I do know everyone seems to love it.
i really love your video, you definitely introduced me to a lot of farming infos i would ever heard about i haven't seen the link of the website in the description. i found too many websites.
I used to grow this hybrid for summer cover crop but now, I grow just sorghum bicolor. Why? because with sorghum I have the same - true, much less organic matter and less exudates but still enough- and I can eat the seeds and my chickens love it. I can also grow beans in between them like with corn. The other thing is that I can save my own seeds and do not have to buy new every year (as you have to do with hubrid seeds). Greatings from Portugal :-)
A bit of an odd use case here, but I keep snakes as a hobby. I've used cypress mulch, coconut coir, chipped coconut husk, and newspaper as bedding. Probably aspen as well. I've never been a fan of the plastic involved, nor the environmental impact of any of those. I've been considering switching to collected autumn leaves from the neighborhood but had some concerns about things like ticks and the like. This looks like a potential solution--I bet if chopped down with a machete, and left to dry out they'd work pretty well. I may experiment with it next year!
I grew some SS, dried it and now it’s chilling in my bioreactor. I’ll take a look at the results under a microscope in a year. Pretty remarkable how deep those roots go in just a couple months.
@@PhilKJames I see. I was worried that uncut without being pressed would leave too much air space thus slowing it down. Thanks for letting me know with the time it took as well.
Years ago, when I was just entering high school and becoming environmentally active (about the time of the creation of the EPA) I came across a report/study/theory of the best carbon reducers for the atmosphere; didn't realize I would have trouble finding it again. The content of the report; the oceans grab the most carbon, which allows the water to heat and loose oxygen levels - warm water is an ingredient to hurricane development, which in turn churns oxygen back into the waters--- but I digress. The next highest carbon grabbing source was prairie grasses, the type you are growing and speaking about. The lowest on the list were forests, groups of trees: and that is not to say trees are not important to carbon reduction, but may be an indication of simply lower carbon reduction needs in an area. This would be a very broad view of how this all might be working together to create our atmosphere and its balance of "greenhouse gasses", i.e. global warming; highlighting the importance of not polluting our oceans, destroying grass lands with our pavement madness, and our deforesting of the planet. Just my two cents, free for you today.
Diego, Maybe in a future time you could test diferent heights of cut and find which one alows for faster regroth of the plant, since your objective is maximizing carbon fixation in form of plant mass. Regards from Brazil!
I appreciate your videos. I like the no BS approach. The Jang and the Paperpot planter are rad too! I'v been working on using Moringa, banana, and mangoes to do what you demonstrated in this video. I plan on adding some clumping bamboo soon too. Some varieties, like oldhamii grow very rapidly, although topping them might be an issue. I'm going to try what you did. That makes perfect sense. We're in the Temecula area, I suspect you're not far from us, perhaps a little south? Thanks again for the awesome videos.
Termination is always a concern with cover crops. Will this grow back from a root? Or is cutting it close to the ground guaranteed to kill it? (Being certain that it hasn't gone to seed.) Loving the videos.
You can place a tarp over the area to blot out the Sun & terminate the Sudangrass and or whatever other covers you're concerned about like buckwheat or something.
What you could also add is that this is one of those crops that has been introduced around the world for many of the reasons mentioned here, but even more so for a feed supplement for livestock. IT produces large yields of seed for supplementing offseason fields to produce feed as well as enhance the soil. I think you can use up to 45% in your pig meal. SO don't forget the value of supplementing feed for your animals on the farm - especially if you are in a region where your dry season produces no rice or other rainy season crops. I came across it when living in Asia and understood its main proponent has been India - and probably a lot of others - but the main information I found was from India & that educated me to push this crop on my mountain inlaws in the tropics.. For Dad's pigs... That and all the lily pads in his ponds were ground up and added to the pig meal... NOt so much lily pads if I recall. SO seeds are very good for livestock feed.
RUclips algorithms have brought me here and I am really enjoying it. I would like to ask if you evet tried to grow hemp. It is also fast growing plant but I think more "woody" what may result in better compost in terms of fungi to bacteria ratio. Do you think that too much sugar is bad for us as well bad for soil? Just some thoughts.
I just ordered sorghum seed for my backyard. We are in Georgia, and our soil is depleted, clay dense, and poor draining. I’m from the Missouri river valley so the soil is hard for me to live with. I’ve spent thousands of hours and dollars over the last few years trying to fix it, and nothing has worked. Hoping this helps.
portugal is dotted with wild colonies of sorghum. it feeds the birds, protects the topsoil, casts shade and in case of national emergency, would provide grazing for equines.
You can cut that all the way to the ground. My hay mower is set at one inch. I cut every 21 days at about 3 feet for hay. If it does not Frost to kill you are going to have to kill by digging the center's out. I had a field last 2 years before
Hey Diego D-I-E-G-O! This is an awesome video, I didn't know about this hybrid before. Just curious, when you say most of the dry weight will be released into the atmosphere. Are you talking about the specific method of chop and drop, or does it also happen with composting?
These are an absolute nightmare around here in Texas. Such an overwhelming weed that's tough to pull out once established. I was curious to research best ways to get rid of it, good to see it has some value though!
There are sorghum cultivars bred for syrup. This is a sorghum-Sudan grass hybrid ... not sure what the sugar content would be like in these. It would be interesting to measure it with a refractometer.
Fantastic channel. Recently discovered it from a video on Steven's Nature's always right channel. Just curious, what's the deal with the name spelling? Wanna make sure people don't understand it as "the Ego" ? :)) Keep up the great work
Thanks a lot, Diego, for this hint! I am using vicia villosa and corn. Works fine but corn is too slow and weak in my Place. Know I will try out intercroping with sudangras.... Sounds promising, thanks to you. I Wonder why it went completely under my radar 😎
Hi, looking to plant this in but California drought has set in.... I’d like to use this as cover for wetland habitat. Should I plant now or wait until September? I’d like for it to mature by end of October
How do you keep the plant from taking over the garden? If you want to plant in area where the sorghum was, how to you keep it from regrowing and taking over?
I am not sure how low you can mow it, but you can keep cutting it and it will re-grow. Like most grazing crops you wouldn't want to remove too much biomass at one time because the plant roots stop growing while the plant recovers, so if you were cutting it really short you wouldn't ever let it get really tall to keep the cut to grow ratio in check.
It probably depends on your area and what you are doing with all the biomass above surface. I would say two weeks is a good starting estimate for many conditions.
@@DiegoFooter mainly for biofumigation for root knots and adding organic matter to my soil. I live in south florida so i was thinking that it might break down fast but didnt know if it was the same at mustard greens where it releases that toxin that inhibits growth of other plants if there planted soon after tilling the mustards in.
I think cover crops in general can be one way to outcompete weeds. That being said I’ve seen a lot of low growing weeds around my sorghum. So it doesn’t shade those out.
You must have thousands of acres, buying this seed in bulk! Places around here (Tx) are charging ~$15 per pound! And I guess I need about 30pounds per acre so it doesnt seem doable. (I have 3 acres)
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I live in northeast Missouri. Sudan grass likes hot dry weather, with occasional moisture. It can withstand wet soil for a period during the first two weeks or so. It loves sunshine and responds to nitrogen . I drilled 60 lbs of seed per acre. Which is near double the recommendation. But I wanted fine stems for cattle feed. My field was 13 acres of gently rolling hill ground. I seeded it during the last week of June. And mowed it the first week of august. It was at least 12 feet tall or more. with stems about the size or my thumb. . And yielded 230 tons of wet hay on the first cutting . Amazing stuff.
Typo error 130 tons.
George Sparks LOL I was getting ready to question, then I saw your clarification. So I’ve just recently discovered this stuff. Do your cows like it? I’m in NE Texas which seems like the perfect environment for it.
@@georgesparks2194 damn that's impressive
Super nepier grass is more better than this
@@georgesparks2194 whats your soil type and rainfall thru summer waiting for rains to plant here in central Fl. Its May 1st so rainy season starts now for us.
Thank you for this content, I am Sudanese and our living is entirely dependent on sorghum because its a drought fighter.
I grew a variety of Sorghum called Egyptian Wheat after viewing a video by Green Cover Seeds. This plant is awesome. I broadcast it in May behind the garage (6'x20') and terminated with an electric hedge trimmer around September 1st leaving a 6-8in stub. It max'd out at 8-10ft tall. My neighbors enjoyed the tall fence of green. I terminated the plant (leaving roots in-place) when a significant portion was going to seed and after a rain storm flatten most parts. Here's an interesting observation - this year we had more grasshoppers than the last 5 years combined. In that same area, I broadcast cereal rye, oats, radish and clover for the winter time.
Grasshoppers👍yeahyeah
grasshoppers like high brix plants
The plants you cut in this video will increase their root mass by a factor of 5. Cutting at above 8" is best for the root stimulation.
High Quality Sorghum Sweet Sudan Grass Seed is available in amazon
www.amazon.in/dp/B08DKQLXHD?ref=myi_title_dp
That's what she said
@@GTILOUD nicely done.
Great video, Diego. I got some seeds to try this year - just waiting for a little warmer weather. 6 weeks! Impressive!
Thanks! 🙏
@@DiegoFooter , . Horses teeth are the same as you and me flat 😬. Horses teeth bones Google it. Humans teeth bones google it. We have long long stomachs. Flat teeth. Little flat teeth 🦷😬-_ moving around. We are herbivores. Scientific fact. We choose to be meat eaters, then fat deposits clog in the arteries and cancer and high blood pressure and hard arteries no fibre if you eat animals, diabetes... 51% death rate !!! Is extremely high for a burger. 5 minute burger et cetera 🙄. Vegans have 4% cancer and that’s it.
20 years difference :
🧟♂️☠️🦠💩🍖🍳🥩🧀🥓🍗🍔🍣 76 years, average. No fibre. Stays in your body for six days or more puuuu-trifying ! Lots of plaque, if you eat animals ! Scientific fact !!!
✅❤️🦵💪😬🦷🌾🍄🌿🍠🌶🥑🍆🍒🍏🍊🥙🌮🍛 96 years, average !! No plaque !! Clean and freshest the boots and socks clean ! Lots of fibre !!! Scientific fact...
How'd it do?
A compelling little video, if you're into agriculture as I am. I especially like the gentle nods, here and there, to those forces beyond our control.
That stuff is wonderful! It disintegrates fast and clean but mats because it is so broad. Instant no weed garden!
Great introduction of this grass for me. We have Johnson grass but it only has tall seed heads. Hearing chickens in the background, I was surprised that you didn't place it in the coop to reduce feed or fill up yet another bioreactor. Loved how you showed us a glimpse of what's next to your property. It highlights what you are achieving by the contrast.
I found what I thought was a corn plant at a house where they feed birds a lot, I took it home and planted it with my other corn, it turned out to be this, except it only gets one stock, and it only grows 4 feet high before making seed. Well it matured and I got a few hundred seeds, I planted it in rows where my corn was and now have about 100 plants off that one that I found. Its so cool how you can do that from just one seed. Next summer I believe my corn crop will do much better, I live in Florida and everything is still groming strong, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I wasn't sure the sorghum would make it to seed but they are, I planted them mid October. Zone 9B I believe...
I believe sorghum and surghum-sudangrass use the C4 pathway for photosynthesis, hence the rapid growth. Same as corn. Great plant!
@@michelifig6356 One of the three known photosynthetic reactions (C3, C4, and CAM). It is found in some warm-climate plants, especially grasses. The C4 reaction is more effective than the others in high temperatures, and also performs better with less access to water and nitrogen, so plants like this sorghum-sudangrass can grow much more quickly than most "typical" plants would under sub-optimal conditions. These are some of the same reasons that corn is a staple crop (it also uses C4 photosynthesis)
@@richards5110 interesting what else ya got brotha I wanna smoke a joint and pick your brain for botany & microbiology info.
I thought C4 was less effective, but more water efficient for each kcal
Perfect timing. My compost has gone cold and my backyard is barren lol thank you!!
This is brilliant - I was going to use oats which is also very vigorous (its a winter crop) but this has changed my mind. Such a useful video !!!
We used to mow and chop Sudangrass as forage for our dairy cows. Sudangrass was ridiculous! It would get seven, eight feet tall, tough to mow and chop. We would harvest it more than once, mowing a little high for regrowth. We would pasture it also but it had to be like 3 feet tall or so as prussic acid was strong in anything shorter. It would fill a silo!
Thank you for this video. I'm prepping my backyard (7.5KSF) to become a food forest. Zone 10 Ventura County. Heavy clay with little biology. Planning to buy this and start to repair it.
Thanks so much for sharing Diego! A favorite. I love the birds these bring, and the crop residue can be used at any stage as a structure for fine-structured. trailing/climbing crops
We use for forage when it gets about head high you can cut and it will regrow. I usually plant in may and usually cut it every 45-60 days
Thanks for the presentation. I did not know this grass also grows from seeds. I'm familiar with the grass, but have only seen it grow from cuttings. This information is of tremendous importance to me for a future project.
Thanks, Diego. I was unaware of that. I've been looking for a good feed for my rabbits and sudangrass is on the approved list. So there is another reason to grow it. The articles I found tout sudangrass for several reasons. The roots are able to break up compacted soil and the plant is drought tolerant. It can be mowed twice a year and would make good mulch.
Read about frost and sorghum sudangrass and frost before using as feed. You can but have to watch the timing.
@@DiegoFooter Apparently, to be completely safe, it's advisable to let it cure for three weeks before use. Thanks.
@@DiegoFooter Could you please recommend a good online source for seeds of this sorghum suddangrass? Thanks in advance. Hans, calhhh@gmail.com
I said it in the video. 👍
This and napier grass for our rabbits too!
I used to bicycle on the san gabriel river trail in Whittier and there was plenty of sorghum, and come to think of it I have seen it growing in marshy places all across the country.
They are probably escapees from agricultural production.
Very tall and prolific there.
Maybe slightly invasive.
Wow a quick search reveals that it is invasive and they call it "one of the world's worst agricultural weeds. "
Sheesh, be careful.
@@garydeforve5055 More like one of the world's greatest agricultural cover crops. Whoever said that doesn't know how cover crops work clearly. You run into problems with no grazers to chew it or humans/machines to chop it. It is far from a crop that you would call hands off, but implying it's invasive and weedy is just another way of saying it grows very well; it's a matter of purpose.
@@skylerdrabing4323 understand what evasive means,, it overtakes natural wild plants/ ruining ecosystems. Not a good thing
@@SuperReznative its called "invasive" plants, they take over and spreads, evasive means hide, escape or avoid. So if your using the plant in a way were it doesn't take over or spread, then its not invasive, if it seeds elsewhere and its not used for compost it will spread and take over its invasive to that spot it grows
I bought over 100 lbs of cover crop seeds for $58 bucks. Turner seed company. be sure to get uncoated seed, as they sell pesticide coated seed to conventional farmers.
Amazing! Some of the initiatives we have partnering with in Kenya and Thailand are also finding great results with Vetiver Grass.. Do you have experience with this amazing grass as well by any chance? Seem to be another one that just has unbelievable services for soil, livelihoods, and watershed health.
You had me at biomass ! That's awesome, my beautiful bride who is Asian wants us to grow this as a rice substitute, very cool thank you.
great video! last year a crazy plant grew beneath my birdfeeder and i finally figured out it was sorghum. i saved the seed head and im testing some seeds from it to see if theyll germinate [it was a bit of a late season growing time for the plant] if they dont work out ill just buy some more seeds though because i think it looks really cool+it would be fun to put out the dried seedheads in winter for the birds.
🌿👍
Awesome grass. Cows love this grass...another use is feed them and use those manure.
High Quality Sorghum Sweet Sudan Grass Seed is available in amazon
www.amazon.in/dp/B08DKQLXHD?ref=myi_title_dp
I bought myself a nice shredder, where I put through all my compost ingredients for my Johnson Su Bioreactor .. this will be a nice source to add to my microgreens residue and the woodchips. Thanks Diego!
I must say I myself wouldn't call someone crazy for rigging up one of those but I would like to know your logic before I pass judgment. Why make an expensive bioreactpr that takes fossil fuel energy to run? Why not just spread organic matter in layers with depleted dirt to make nice healthy soil?
@@coleweede1953 Why would a Johnson Su Bioreactor consume any fossil fuels? Why do you think that any judgment has to be made in this matter ... but ok, here we go: In my context it makes plenty of sense. I have limited space for composting and going vertical with no need to turn stuff and resulting in a highly fungal output seems to be a no-brainer. The shredder reduses the total volume of crop residues by at least 50% and the whole process of composting is done faster as well resulting in more time for aging and the final product can be broadcasted without any screening.
@@ronrover6594 an electric shredder would stull use fossil fuels but im guessing yours is gas. I had been taught that that style of reactor used forced air, if you don't have any electric fan then I suppose you don't use more fossil fuels but maybe some petroleum products like plastic liners. I don't mean to be mistaken on my statement, judgement by definition is neither positive nor negative I pass judgement and learn based on what I see and experience. that is all I don't mean to offend you I just wanted to learn why you chose it to fit your context which you shared publicly.
@@coleweede1953 It‘s alright, no worries 👍🏻 My composters are made out of wood without any liners, the shredder runs on electricity and our town supplies mostly hydro power. I water it with a 12V DC boat pump and rainwater that I collect myself. I only use PE pipe and considering the amount of carbon I sequester in my garden/micro farm I should carbon negative for sure. As it comes to fossil fuels I may very well be using some in the whole process but considering that I provide food for families in my neighborhood that don‘t have to commute to the supermarket to by imported vegetables I guess that will be fine as well 😉
@@ronrover6594 great philosophy! Thanks for sharing I am envious
I missed my window planting this, as I'd recently purchased the property and was busy in cleanup. I'm definitely planning on planting these as soon as the soil temperatures get up to 70°. In the meantime, I'm just starting the integration of quail/rabbits/etc., and have the first batch of vermicast almost cured. Going to maintain biodiverse aerobic microbes amd integrate soil food web principles into everything Geoff Lawton, Joel Salatin, both Dr. Inghams, Paul Stamets, etc taught me. Have to bring this dead dirt back to life. 😁
Integrating this with a ground cover and/or a climbing plant would also work well I recon... maybe something like clover, legumes, morning glory... or maybe even something like a squash. I see a lot of potential in this plant, especially as a very good source for home-made animal bedding and turning it into great compost after! Thanks for sharing
Great video. Also love your new podcast, keep up the great content! I will give Sorghum Sudan a try, I'm trying to build fertility in the high desert of CA.
This is mostly grown in pakistan and west-south India also. We feed it to livestock
Biomass is great for any garden system! I use miscanthus giganteus as well. Seed Ranch is great. I use their chufa.
Nice video. I will buy the seeds and plant this as feed for my chickens and goats. Its hot and dry where I live, so I hope it will do well with little watering once a week or so. I can put goat and/or chicken manure, either dry or as liquid fertiliser.
Truly impressive program Diego. Its really amazing grass
Its definitely a grass that grows tall for animal feed, never thought of it for a cover crop for the garden. It does have limitations with frost and being able to feed it
I know lots of people who plant sudangrass I don't plant it because a lawnmower or weed eater can't really cut it everyone I know uses a special mower and then they till it other wise I would use it in my garden that's 1/4 acer but I do know everyone seems to love it.
i really love your video, you definitely introduced me to a lot of farming infos i would ever heard about
i haven't seen the link of the website in the description. i found too many websites.
I used to grow this hybrid for summer cover crop but now, I grow just sorghum bicolor. Why? because with sorghum I have the same - true, much less organic matter and less exudates but still enough- and I can eat the seeds and my chickens love it. I can also grow beans in between them like with corn. The other thing is that I can save my own seeds and do not have to buy new every year (as you have to do with hubrid seeds). Greatings from Portugal :-)
Great to meet u
A bit of an odd use case here, but I keep snakes as a hobby. I've used cypress mulch, coconut coir, chipped coconut husk, and newspaper as bedding. Probably aspen as well. I've never been a fan of the plastic involved, nor the environmental impact of any of those. I've been considering switching to collected autumn leaves from the neighborhood but had some concerns about things like ticks and the like. This looks like a potential solution--I bet if chopped down with a machete, and left to dry out they'd work pretty well. I may experiment with it next year!
Wow, cool idea! Would love to see how it goes. Post video!
I grew some SS, dried it and now it’s chilling in my bioreactor. I’ll take a look at the results under a microscope in a year. Pretty remarkable how deep those roots go in just a couple months.
Curious did you chip it first (How short/fine) or add it as is ?
@@Hohoz88 I did both. Half through the mower and half as-is. Sitting there for a year, my guess is that it won’t matter.
@@PhilKJames I see. I was worried that uncut without being pressed would leave too much air space thus slowing it down.
Thanks for letting me know with the time it took as well.
Love the video. Great job.
Years ago, when I was just entering high school and becoming environmentally active (about the time of the creation of the EPA) I came across a report/study/theory of the best carbon reducers for the atmosphere; didn't realize I would have trouble finding it again. The content of the report; the oceans grab the most carbon, which allows the water to heat and loose oxygen levels - warm water is an ingredient to hurricane development, which in turn churns oxygen back into the waters--- but I digress. The next highest carbon grabbing source was prairie grasses, the type you are growing and speaking about. The lowest on the list were forests, groups of trees: and that is not to say trees are not important to carbon reduction, but may be an indication of simply lower carbon reduction needs in an area. This would be a very broad view of how this all might be working together to create our atmosphere and its balance of "greenhouse gasses", i.e. global warming; highlighting the importance of not polluting our oceans, destroying grass lands with our pavement madness, and our deforesting of the planet. Just my two cents, free for you today.
Do you have a channel?
Sorghum is a very good grain. You should try making that.
Also when grain is harvested its a very rich dry food source for dairy.
I planted the similar grass in my back yard. It grows fast even in dry season
Does it stay all year?
Diego,
Maybe in a future time you could test diferent heights of cut and find which one alows for faster regroth of the plant, since your objective is maximizing carbon fixation in form of plant mass.
Regards from Brazil!
I appreciate your videos. I like the no BS approach. The Jang and the Paperpot planter are rad too! I'v been working on using Moringa, banana, and mangoes to do what you demonstrated in this video. I plan on adding some clumping bamboo soon too. Some varieties, like oldhamii grow very rapidly, although topping them might be an issue. I'm going to try what you did. That makes perfect sense. We're in the Temecula area, I suspect you're not far from us, perhaps a little south? Thanks again for the awesome videos.
Termination is always a concern with cover crops. Will this grow back from a root? Or is cutting it close to the ground guaranteed to kill it? (Being certain that it hasn't gone to seed.)
Loving the videos.
Same question.
Sorghum sudangrass is an annual
he said in the video that he cut it before it went to seed
@@bodhisfattva7462 many grasses spread from the roots.
You can place a tarp over the area to blot out the Sun & terminate the Sudangrass and or whatever other covers you're concerned about like buckwheat or something.
n00b question: how does one know when Sorghum grass is about to seed in order to terminate it before it does, is it observational or date?
The seed head is blatantly obvious. You can't miss it. Google "sorghum sudangrass seed head".
@@benthere8051 Ah, yes very obvious. Thanks.
If you want to see fast growing, try Anredera cordifolia ( Madeira Vine).
What you could also add is that this is one of those crops that has been introduced around the world for many of the reasons mentioned here, but even more so for a feed supplement for livestock.
IT produces large yields of seed for supplementing offseason fields to produce feed as well as enhance the soil. I think you can use up to 45% in your pig meal.
SO don't forget the value of supplementing feed for your animals on the farm - especially if you are in a region where your dry season produces no rice or other rainy season crops.
I came across it when living in Asia and understood its main proponent has been India - and probably a lot of others - but the main information I found was from India & that educated me to push this crop on my mountain inlaws in the tropics.. For Dad's pigs... That and all the lily pads in his ponds were ground up and added to the pig meal... NOt so much lily pads if I recall.
SO seeds are very good for livestock feed.
I'm assuming that you could do desert terraforming with that
RUclips algorithms have brought me here and I am really enjoying it.
I would like to ask if you evet tried to grow hemp. It is also fast growing plant but I think more "woody" what may result in better compost in terms of fungi to bacteria ratio. Do you think that too much sugar is bad for us as well bad for soil?
Just some thoughts.
I just ordered sorghum seed for my backyard. We are in Georgia, and our soil is depleted, clay dense, and poor draining.
I’m from the Missouri river valley so the soil is hard for me to live with. I’ve spent thousands of hours and dollars over the last few years trying to fix it, and nothing has worked. Hoping this helps.
I love this stuff!
Ooh, i could be sold on this..
Diego
If we chop it down and till the residue in the soil, will that stop the crop or will it still come up later?
great stuff, how much irrigation did it need?
You look like the dude from John wick that is a huge fan of him but also trying to kill him lol
wonderful...is this BMR sorghum sudangrass you used? mean brown midrib...mygreathanks
portugal is dotted with wild colonies of sorghum. it feeds the birds, protects the topsoil, casts shade and in case of national emergency, would provide grazing for equines.
You can cut that all the way to the ground. My hay mower is set at one inch. I cut every 21 days at about 3 feet for hay. If it does not Frost to kill you are going to have to kill by digging the center's out. I had a field last 2 years before
@@flatsville1 9
When do you plant this in southern california? Thanks
Hey Diego D-I-E-G-O! This is an awesome video, I didn't know about this hybrid before.
Just curious, when you say most of the dry weight will be released into the atmosphere. Are you talking about the specific method of chop and drop, or does it also happen with composting?
What kind of sorghum that grows more leafy
These are an absolute nightmare around here in Texas. Such an overwhelming weed that's tough to pull out once established. I was curious to research best ways to get rid of it, good to see it has some value though!
Cutting it off just below surface has worked for me.
we today cultivated 5 canals... for a buffalo and a cow
I'm curious about the affect of macronutrients of the soil after growth...any ideas/info
What would be a good spacing recommendation for sorghum sudangrass seed, if planting in rows?
AND... you can make beer out of the seeds :))
The stem reminds me of banana trees
Is this the same sorghum plant that makes syrup?
There are sorghum cultivars bred for syrup. This is a sorghum-Sudan grass hybrid ... not sure what the sugar content would be like in these. It would be interesting to measure it with a refractometer.
Fantastic channel. Recently discovered it from a video on Steven's Nature's always right channel. Just curious, what's the deal with the name spelling? Wanna make sure people don't understand it as "the Ego" ? :)) Keep up the great work
Thanks. 😜
Will it terminate when you want it to terminated? Do you have to dig it up? Thank you for the video.
If you check the video at 2:46 he shows the roots, it looks like you can just pull them off. They seem to propagate close to each other.
I will crimp this to kill it because we won’t get a killing frost. Don’t want to pull if I don’t have to.
@momentinpassing I understand that but the question seemed like it was asking if it could be controlled or not like other grasses.
How much water it needs
Thanks a lot, Diego, for this hint! I am using vicia villosa and corn. Works fine but corn is too slow and weak in my Place. Know I will try out intercroping with sudangras.... Sounds promising, thanks to you. I Wonder why it went completely under my radar 😎
Hi, looking to plant this in but California drought has set in.... I’d like to use this as cover for wetland habitat. Should I plant now or wait until September? I’d like for it to mature by end of October
What livestock eats them?
Any ruminant will gladly eat it!
A very easy way to create a living top soil on a plot of dead and dry land.
Where to buy this grass seed in small quantity like 1/2 lb? I dont find these grass seeds in home depot or lowes or in any garden centre..
How to grow it and get seeds out of it?
Where do I get some?
Nice
How do you keep the plant from taking over the garden? If you want to plant in area where the sorghum was, how to you keep it from regrowing and taking over?
You are going to have to kill it before it goes to seed.
If you let it run to seed in a small part of one bed, I wonder if that'd render enough grain to replant.
I hear Diego is your Nameo
Can you use the seed as grain for bread making?
High Quality Sorghum Sweet Sudan Grass Seed is available in amazon
www.amazon.in/dp/B08DKQLXHD?ref=myi_title_dp
How can I get this seed in Laos
Wow!
I'm having an issue with ants eating my seeds in my field. Does anyone else have this issue and what solutions did you find to remedy this situation
Will this Grass die off in Winter?
Does this grow in zone 5 also cannot become invasive? I love to plant this along my property line for a natural hedge
In the summer yes. It could become invasive if you let it go. But they sell a sterile strain.
so the Sudangrass is a multiple cut type grass? You can get multiple harvests out of it? Can you mow as low as a lawn mower and still have it regrow?
I am not sure how low you can mow it, but you can keep cutting it and it will re-grow. Like most grazing crops you wouldn't want to remove too much biomass at one time because the plant roots stop growing while the plant recovers, so if you were cutting it really short you wouldn't ever let it get really tall to keep the cut to grow ratio in check.
Can't you make Sorghum syrup from the stalks?
Great video I’d try a male sterile forage sorghum at a low seeding rate 4-7 seed per sq ft. What hybrid is this?
This is just sorghum-sudangrass. No strain listed. The base model. :)
How long should the sorghum sit and decompose before planting other crops in?
It probably depends on your area and what you are doing with all the biomass above surface. I would say two weeks is a good starting estimate for many conditions.
@@DiegoFooter mainly for biofumigation for root knots and adding organic matter to my soil. I live in south florida so i was thinking that it might break down fast but didnt know if it was the same at mustard greens where it releases that toxin that inhibits growth of other plants if there planted soon after tilling the mustards in.
Can you feed sorghum to pigs and cattle?
Would this be a good cover crop to eliminate weeds and dandelions?
I think cover crops in general can be one way to outcompete weeds. That being said I’ve seen a lot of low growing weeds around my sorghum. So it doesn’t shade those out.
No such thing
SS costs us about $25 an acre in seed. Biomass wise it's probably 2nd only to corn.
You must have thousands of acres, buying this seed in bulk! Places around here (Tx) are charging ~$15 per pound! And I guess I need about 30pounds per acre so it doesnt seem doable. (I have 3 acres)
@@nezihvarisligil7140 you can get seed online very cheap. I pay about $0.88/lb.
Get hedge trimmer , sthil battery powered will make quick work of it!
What kind of large bio mass can I grow over the winter (I’m in N Texas... so we do get frosts)
Iron clay pees, clover, daikon radish, Australian winter pees. Hosstools.com has a great winter cover crop selection for those of us in the south
Thanks john Sheppard
Do you know if it is taking alot of nitrogen out of the soil like corn?
Yes to grow, but where is that nitrogen ending up? You are just cycling it so it doesn’t leach away.
@@DiegoFooter ty
You should try Kudzu next... :)
I don’t want to lose my house. 😂
Oh lord no!! (Although you can eat it)