Last edited on 2 Nov 2026. View history
Foxtail Millet
A variety of millet
How to sow foxtail millet: Direct seed: broadcast or drill
Sun requirement for foxtail millet: Plant in Full Sun
An ancient millet said to be found in Neolithic tombs in China, where it has been eaten as porridge for centuries. Plants reach about 1 m, so they are easy to cover against birds, and the upright seed heads later droop like a fox's tail. It threshes and hulls easily. Sow in trays in early October and transplant at 5 to 8 cm, 10 cm apart on the diagonal.
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Foxtail millet facts
Lifespan
Crop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For foxtail millet, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 5°C and a shortest growing cycle of 60 days at its best temperature, about 960 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your foxtail millet will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Plant foxtail millets with
pigeon pea
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Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Setaria italica (L.) Beauv.
| Family / Taxonomy | Liliopsida Commelinidae Cyperales Gramineae |
|---|---|
| Life form | grass |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | deep (>>150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, light |
| Optimal soil fertility | moderate |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours) |
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