Figure 4.-Lespedeza at Beltsville, Md., in late July: Iowa 6, right, shows greater growth than Climax.
Lespedeza will grow on almost any type of soil. It does well on the sandy loam soils of the Coastal Plain, the clay soils of the Piedmont, and the limestone soils of Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. It will grow on soils too acid to grow clover. It does better on good land and makes its best growth on fertile, bottom land, where yields of 2 to 3 tons of hay per acre are not uncommon.
On very acid soil lime has proved very beneficial to lespedeza. The Korean lespedezas are more responsive to lime than the Common variety of striate lespedeza. Where soils are poor, lespedeza will respond to both lime and fertilizers.
Phosphate in particular has caused increased yields and should be used generally on all the poorer soil. In the Coastal Plain, both phosphate and potash are generally needed, and 200 to 400 pounds per acre of an 0-14-14 fertilizer is recommended.
The amount of fertilizer that should be used depends to some extent on the amount of fertilizer that was applied to the crop preceding the lespedeza in the rotation and on the management of the lespedeza in the rotation. Where lespedeza is grown each year with winter grains and harvested for hay, the available supply of phosphate and potash may be exhausted unless particular attention is paid to the fertility requirements of the crop.
