Abstract: This study takes vinegar residue in Shanxi as the research object. By analyzing the influence of different ratios of vinegar residue and coal ash on the growth and photosynthetic rate of sorghum seedling, the authors aim to achieve resource utilization of vinegar residue in Shanxi. The test set 4 treatments of vinegar residue and coal ash and took chemical fertilizer as the control, and used randomized block design. The results showed that different ratios of vinegar residue and coal ash mixture could improve the photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll content and seedling growth of sorghum, among which, treatment 2 (vinegar residue: coal ash=1:1 ratio) had the best effect, the photosynthetic rate and chlorophyll content was 12.07% and 6.47% higher than that of the control respectively; the stomatal conductance and the transpiration rate reduced by 17.39% and 9.10% respectively compared with that of the control. In summary, the vinegar residue and coal ash mixture can effectively improve the growth and photosynthetic rate of sorghum seedlings.