The Living Crop Museum

Living Crop Museum
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Leguminous Forage Crops

Common Name:

Hairy Vetch

Latin Name:

Vicia villosa

Variety:

landrace

Crop Origin:

Mediterranean area

Type:

Annual legume

Date Planted:

7 May 2004

Growth Stages in Ohio


January	February	March	April	May	June

July	August	September	October	November	December

Cultivation in Ohio

Primary Uses:	Forage
Planting:	Classed as a Winter Annual that initiates growth in the fall, lives over winter, and dies after producing seed the following season. Seed during July or early August. This is necessary to obtain adequate vegetative growth for soil cover prior to winter. Use specific vetch inoculum. No legume is more sensitive to lack of inoculation than vetch and since the bacteria are not widely distributed naturally, vetch seed should always be inoculated with its special inoculum culture.
Seeding Rate:	Seed at 15-20 pounds per acre.
Fertility:	Well drained soils. pH 6.0 to 7.5. Drought tolerant.
Insects:
Diseases:
Harvest:
Comments:	Hairy vetch contains many hard seeds with 15 to 30 percent common. These hard seeds can remain in the soil for several years, then germinate to develop into unwanted plants. Vetch is an especially serious weed plant in wheat.

Identification

Leaf:

Hairy_ Vetch_ leaf1.JPG (802092 bytes)

Flower:

Hairy_ Vetch_ flower3.JPG (2452913 bytes)

Seeds:

Hairy_Vetch_seed.JPG (1251106 bytes)

Hairy_Vetch_seed_pods_1.jpg (1403878 bytes)

Distribution:

Hairy Vetch distribution map.jpg (30788 bytes)

More Info:

http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/forages/publications/legumes/hairy_vetch.htm

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VIVI

http://ohioline.osu.edu/agf-fact/0006.html