Sweet sorghum for short season areas

Does anyone know of any sweet sorghum varieties that mature in less than 100 days? That is all I can count on here.

Hi Ken.  I started growing it about 35 years ago here.  It is a mixture of sugar drip, honey drip and Mennonite.  Our growing season is about 2 weeks shorter than when I started growing it and we still get plenty of seed.  Last year we planted the first of June and started harvest early September.  We strip the leaves off if a frost is coming.  Last year our last freeze was May 22 and the first frost was the second week of September.  The molasses we made last year was really good.  Sorry I missed this post or I would have got to you earlier.  If you need a small amount of seed PM me.

Thanks for the help. I am really excited to try making molasses this fall.

We are at it again this year with an updated mill.

Oh that is fun! I never considered that I could try it up north where I am. I was growing it in my garden for the first time when I lived in North Carolina and then we ended up moving to Washington state the beginning of the summer so I never got to harvest and try my crop. It's going on my list to experiment with. 😄 I'm trying out all sorts of "southern" stuff next year for fun because I've been finding that for every one crop that fails, there is a second one that surprises me with how good it grows.

Hi Jenny.  I was told many times I can't grow it here.  I really like how you are trying new things.  I have found there are a bunch of things that I can grow that over the years adapt well to my area. Here is some data for you to use to see if it will work for you.  It took 12 weeks on a 30 x 40 patch to get a few viable seed heads.  The ground has to be 60 or above to germinate.  I don't use any fertilizer just composted chicken poo. They germinate slowly, so weeds are faster than them at the beginning.  Keep in mind they are a C4 plant that responds well to heat and sun. My son and I built a little cultivator that helps with the weeds. In 13 weeks there were lots of seed heads.  We started squeezing stalks at 14 weeks and ended at 16 weeks.  The molasses is really good this year.  It was about a 1:22 ratio this year.  I save the thickest shorter stock that seed early for seed every year and then added a little bit from 3 years ago to help keep the genetics strong.  If you can't find local seed PM me this winter and I'll get you some.  A little bag of seed goes a long way.  If you have any other questions please ask, my sweet tooth likes to talk about sorghum.