🌾 Millet
Field Crops · growing reference
| Days to maturity | 60 days – 90 days, by type |
|---|---|
| Germination | 7 days |
| Planted as | lb |
| Water | ~0.50–1 in a week |
When to plant
In USDA zone 6, for example: Plant around Apr 29, once the soil has warmed — sown into cold ground it just sits.
| Spring | |
|---|---|
| Zone 3 | May 29 |
| Zone 4 | May 21 |
| Zone 5 | May 10 |
| Zone 6 | Apr 29 |
| Zone 7 | Apr 15 |
| Zone 8 | Mar 29 |
| Zone 9 | Mar 6 |
Dates are the typical window for each zone's average frost dates — your own last frost can differ by a couple of weeks. Zone 10 and warmer is effectively frost-free: plant to the season, not the frost. Southern Hemisphere: shift six months.
Millet Types
- Proso · 70 days · 15–30 lbs/plant — The short-season grain millet — human food and the staple of birdseed mixes; very fast North.
- Pearl · 90 days · 150–300 lbs of forage/plant — The tall heat-lover of the South — grazing, hay, and grain; best summer forage millet.
- Foxtail · 75 days · 100–200 lbs of hay/plant — German/Italian millet — a quick, fine-stemmed emergency hay crop.
- Japanese · 60 days · 100–200 lbs of forage/plant — Barnyard millet — tolerates wet ground; forage and duck/wildlife food plots.
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