About 6 to 10 days before flowering, the boot forms a bulge in the sheath of the flag leaf (uppermost leaf).

This stage is called boot leaf stage. Sorghum usually flowers 55 to 70 days.

         The stem of sorghum consists of many alternating nodes and internodes.

         It ranges from slender to very strong, 0.5 to 5 cm in diameter near the base.

Sorghum shoot system consists of stem, leaves, nodes, and internodes during the vegetative stage.

Leaves nodes develop @ of one in 3 to 6 days.

The plant remains in vegetative stage for 30 to 40 days during which all leaves (12 to 18) are formed.

The sorghum root system consists of 3 types of roots:

The cultivated sorghums mature in 100 to 140 days depending on the variety.

The right time to harvest sorghum is at the physiological stage of the plants or when the seed moisture content is below 25%.

The shoot (coleoptile) emerge from the ground and first leaf breaks through the tip.

The mesocotyle grows during this period and a node is formed at the base of the coleoptile just below ground level.

Secondary roots begin to grow from this node, 3 to 7 days after the plant emerges from the soil.

At optimum temperature (25 to 300 C) and moisture, the sorghum seed germinates in 3 to 5 days.

When sorghum seed is sown in moist soil, the seed swells due to moisture absorption.

The seed coat breaks a small shoot (coleoptile) and a primary root (radicle) emerge.

At optimum temperature (25 to 300 C) and moisture, the sorghum seed germinates in 3 to 5 days.

When sorghum seed is sown in moist soil, the seed swells due to moisture absorption.