MF Sorghum experiment

[MaartenFoubert]

I am creating a separate post to document my Sorghum grex experiment.

Starting Varieties:
White Dwarf
Dorado
Korjaj
Maizeña
M61 survivor
Allu Jola
Gaolian Voskovidnyj
Kawanda
Rox Orange
Coral
Gila River Kaña
Texas Black Amber Molasses
Caña Ganchado
Apache Red “Sugarcane”
Mountain Pima
Tasagui
Ba Ye Qi
Honey Drip
Sugar Drip
Mennonite
Tarahumara
Dale

I’d like to grow the sorghum for seeds (popping and flour), syrup (especially if the syrup leaks from the stalk, as I can get my bees to harvest it for me), and also for biomass.

The experiment is to figure out: 1) what is the least amount of protection I have to provide from deer (as I have a fenced-in area, but that is prime real estate, I would rather grow it outside the fenced-in area) and 2) what is the least amount of work I have to do for it to grow.

So, in 2025, I am growing sorghum under different starting conditions (but all sowing was done during/before a 5-day rainy week 4/28-05/01):

Outside fence in dry garden:

1. seeds cast in the weeds, weeds mowed down with grass mower, nothing else till harvest
2. weed barrier down in the fall, removed before planting, seeds planted, nothing else till harvest
3. (2) and seeds covered with weeds/grass to help moisture till germination

Inside fence in dry garden:
4) (2) but inside fence
5) (3) but inside fence
6) manure dug under in the fall and (5)
7) bales of hay buried in the fall and (5)

Home garden:
8) Seeds cast in a nicely aerated bed of leaf mulch compost, slightly covered by a light sprinkling of evenly spaced hay which was hand selected by French maidens. Electric fence low to the ground to discourage bunny activities. Watered as needed and if necessary, I will sing lullaby songs to them in the evening.

Needless to say, I hope (1) is a success for all sorghum (or at least for one syrup sorghum and one grain sorghum), so I won’t have to do 2-8 going forward.

Status 5/11:
Rox Orange (starting condition 8) and Gaolian Voskovidnyj (starting condition 6) are popping, there are some signs of single sorghum seedlings popping, but hard to tell if a single seedling is sorghum or some random grass that happened to pop up.

Maarten

[isabelle (Harlé)]

9. = 8) with English lads selecting the hay.

[MaartenFoubert]

Current status of the nursery seedlings (starting condition 8):

Rox Orange (I am planning to transplant some of these as the germination rate is off the chart):

Maizena:

Honey Drip:

This is the Rox Orange description: Rox Orange is a selection of forage sorghum released by the Kansas State Agricultural Experiment Station in the 1930’s. Compared to earlier forage sorghums, it had more palatable stalks with a higher sugar content and less tannin in the seeds. It is distinctly inferior in both yield and quality to modern BMR hybrids.

Liking how that variety is behaving so far.

Maarten

[MaartenFoubert]

Visited my dry garden today to see how my unpampered sorghum plots were doing

This is a pic of a method 3 lot(weed barrier placed in fall and removed before sowing, seedlings covered with mulch made from pulled weeds) (ref 3-1). These are 4 rows, 2 Coral, 2 Ba Ye Qi, the second row was heavily seeded, which is the greenish line going from almost the top left corner to the middle of the pic):

Some life showing up in the “scattered some seeds in a weedy patch, then mowed it” plots:

Another seedling in a similar plot:

I checked some of my other projects and the “David The Good Compost Pumpkins” are struggling, I may have to find out where he lives, go visit his garden and yell at his pumpkins that they are mightily spoilt little Alabama debutantes, can’t handle a little bit of clay, a little bit cooler temperatures and a little rain…

Maarten

[cjs419]

I’m in a heavily deer populated area of Ohio but i never see signs they’ve been eating my sorghum. Maybe because there’s plenty of other stuff to eat between the woods and corn/soy fields.

I’ve only planted a tall “sugar cane” type and I’ve tried broadcasting in various conditions and i wasn’t impressed. What i grow acts like corn, in that it wants wide spacing, and lots of water and compost otherwise it seems to stall at 3 or 4 ft and not put on a seed head. So I plant a row or two like corn and I still save seeds and broadcast to see what will happen but it usually just results in treats for the pigs. I’d rather grow fruit for sugar and corn for grain.

[MaartenFoubert]

cjs419,

That is discouraging, hopefully I have a big enough mix of genetics so some of them will do well enough to reproduce under neglect.

Maarten

[cjs419]

Yeah i wouldn’t be discouraged. That was just my one variety. If i had a mangle style press and a big old stainless pan to reduce, I’d probably grow more and make syrup. I still intentionally grow it but mainly just for throwing the seed heads to the chickens and the stalks to the pigs. Trying to clean grain like sorghum and amaranth for human consumption just isn’t something I’ve got the patience for currently. Still great crops tho.

[Lauren (Lauren Ritz)]

My little plot last year did fine. Heavy clay, no water May to August (dry garden), no weeding, and while I didn’t get a lot most plants did produce. I just hoed in a shallow trench, covered the seeds and walked away.

I only have one variety, unfortunately, a broomcorn type. This was the initial test at this location, so if I decide to do sorghum again I’ll use more diversity.