Sunn Hemp

WARM Season - Legume

SEEDING / GROWTH:

 

 

Dates:  After all danger of frost/Time fall planting 

to allow at least 8 weeks of growth for best results

 

 

Rates:

         Precision:   9lbs/A (15"row) or  5lbs/A (30" row)

           Drilled:           15 lb/A , 1/2" to 1" deep

         Broadcast:   Not recommended

          Aerial:            Not recommended

 

Average seeds/lb: 15,000

Inoculate: Yes, crimson or berseem inoculant

Emergence:  3 days

Height: 3' in 30 days and 6' in 90 days

 

Drought & Heat:  High drought tolerance

                                      High heat tolerance

 

Flooding:   Does not tolerate flooding or ponding

PROS:

• Quick establishment

• Weed suppression

• Reduces soil erosion

• Reduces pests (suppresses nematodes)

• Builds soil

• Tolerates poor, sandy soil

 

 

 

CONS:

 

• Nitrogen forms in early growth inhibits plant uptake

• Does not grow well in acidic soil

Sunn Hemp is an erect, branching, annual legume.  It is a rapid, vigorous grower, achieving a height of 4-6 feet in 60 days when growing in favorable conditions.  Sunn Hemp is recommended as a rapid-growing leguminous green manure crop to be included in rotation with vegetable, ornamental, and other plants to add nitrogen, organic matter, suppress weeds, control erosion, and to reduce root-knot nematodes.  Sunn Hemp can produce over 145 pounds of actual nitrogen per acre at 60 days of growth.  It has capabilities of producing as much as 3 tons per acre of organic matter in favorable conditions.