Plant Database / Cover & Soil Crops / Sorghum-Sudangrass
Cover & Soil Crops

Sorghum-Sudangrass

Sorghum × drummondii
Poaceae (Grass)

A massive summer biomass cover that smothers weeds and breaks compaction. Mow it once to thicken the roots.

Cover cropBuilds soilHeat-loverDrought-toughVigorous
Sorghum-Sudangrass (Sorghum × drummondii) illustration — Texas Roots plant database, by Jordan Polasek
Sun
Full sun
Water
Low — drought-tough
Soil
Tolerant
pH
5.5–7.5
Hardiness
Warm-season annual
Height
5–12 ft
Spacing
Broadcast
Days to harvest
Summer biomass

What it is

Sorghum-Sudangrass (Sorghum × drummondii) is in the Poaceae (Grass) family. A massive summer biomass cover that smothers weeds and breaks compaction. Mow it once to thicken the roots.

How to grow it

It wants full sun, water it low — drought-tough, and give it tolerant soil. Target a soil pH around 5.5–7.5. Space plants about Broadcast apart. Expect roughly Summer biomass. Warm-season annual.

How it's used

Sorghum-Sudangrass is used: cover crop only.

🔎 How to identify it

  • Tall corn-like stalks
  • Dense fast canopy
  • Huge root mass

Not for eating

Grown for the garden, soil, or pollinators — not as food.
🌤 Before you plant: check the live 7-day garden weather to time it right for frost and heat.

Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.