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Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-026
Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Alfalfa is a deep-rooted perennial legume grown worldwide as one of the richest forage crops available, its taproot running six metres or more into the ground to pull up water and nutrients nothing else nearby can reach. It fixes its own nitrogen through a partnership with soil bacteria and shares some of it with neighbouring plants, and a stand can be cut two to five times a season for years once established. Cattle grazing it need their time limited, since the same richness that makes it excellent forage also causes bloat. It fails on acid or waterlogged ground and needs a season's break before it can be replanted into itself, since its own root and leaf residues suppress the next generation of its seedlings.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 4–11
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Moist · Well-Drained
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 6.5–8.5
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 24–36 in
- Mature spread
- Not yet recorded
- Plant spacing
- Not yet recorded
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
Adzuki Bean
Vigna angularis (Willd.) Ohwi & H.Ohashi
Adzuki is the odd one out among the beans in this group: a very hot summer is actively too hot for it, since heat above about 35C damages…
Herbaceous · USDA 3–11
African Eggplant
Solanum aethiopicum
African Eggplant, also called gboma or scarlet eggplant, is a West and Central African relative of eggplant that gives two harvests from one…
Herbaceous · USDA 8–12
Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatoria
Agrimony is a slender herbaceous perennial of sunny, disturbed ground across Europe and western Asia, grown mainly for the tannin-rich leaves…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Aloe Vera
Aloe vera
Aloe Vera is a stemless, clump-forming succulent with thick, spiny-edged leaves that store a clear gel used to soothe burns, wounds and skin…
Herbaceous · USDA 10–12
Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranth greens are one of the few leafy vegetables actually built for peak summer heat rather than one that just tolerates it - sown once…
Herbaceous · USDA 2–11
Angelica
Angelica archangelica
Angelica is a very large, short-lived umbellifer grown for its candied stem and aromatic root - the thick young stalks are peeled and boiled…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–7
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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