Sunn Hemp - Crotalaria juncea

Sunn Hemp - Crotalaria juncea

Sunn Hemp is a fantastic cover crop meant for feeding your garden, not you. 

This plant is in the pea family and sometimes goes by other names such as Indian hemp, Madras hemp, brown hemp, and sann hemp. Sunn hemp adds nitrogen back into your soil and it will be hard for you to find another plant that can outgrow sunn hemp.  

This is a ‘chop and drop’ type plant. The point of planting sunn hemp is to let it grow for about 4-6 weeks and then to cut it down and then to work all of that green plant material back into the soil. 

If sunn hemp is left to grow for too long the stems will become very fibrous and make it difficult to work back into the soil quickly. 

When to Plant: It’s best to plant these seeds in your garden from April through early July in all parts of the state.

Planting instructions: Plant in a spot with full sun. Sunn hemp is not picky about the soil it is grown in and can even take some drought conditions.

Germination time: 3-5 Days