A tropical plant originating from Southern Asia and part of the legume family, this rigerous cover crop is well-known for it's rapid growth, nitrogen-fixing qualities, and strong, deep-seated taproots. Sunn Hemp is not
a member of the hemp (cannabis sativa) family. The plant grows so largely, so quickly, with little to no water input at all... that you can chop down a 3-4in tall stalk in just one month with no water. You can continually cut back this useful plant as a source of organic material for mulch or in some cases animal feed; applicable for cattle, goats, and sheep. If saving the seeds, allow the plants to grow to maturity, which brandish edible yellow flowers that shortly follow abundant seed pods.
Sunn Hemp- Tropic Sun(Crotalaria juncea)
•Light: Prefers full sun and can thrive in weather beyond 105°F.
•Thrives in almost all soil types but prefers dry conditions; does not do well in waterlogged soils or muddy/wet conditions.
•Water: Drought tolerant once established; benefits and excels from moistened soil during establishment.
•Needs frost-free conditions and warm soil to thrive.
•Harvest/chop down before flowering for most abundant feed/ biomass collection without spreading seeds.
•
•This is a legume species and will sequester nitrogen into the soil through its root systems as it quickly grows.
•Its root systems are known to help suppress or remove harmful and plant-parasitic nematodes in soil (aka microscopic worms that attack plant roots).
•The “Tropic Sun” Variety has no poisonous alkaloids unlike most varieties, and can therefore be fed to livestock.
•Produces 4-6 feet worth of growth in just 2-3 months (?!?!) that can be used as biomass for soil restoration.
){kind=link}