Production of methane gas from coal seams generates well water that is slightly to moderately saline. Since land application is a potential method of disposal for this water, a greenhouse study was conducted to evaluate plant response and changes in soil chemical properties resulting from irrigation with coalbed methane‐produced water. The soil was a Montevallo (Typic Dystrochrepts)‐Nauvoo (Typic Hapludults) association located in northern Alabama. Two irrigation methods used in the initial greenhouse test were 1) continuous, irrigation 24 h d‐1and 2) intermittent, irrigation for 12 h and off for 24 h. In a second greenhouse test, three irrigation methods were used: 1) continuous, irrigation for 24 h d‐1, 2) intermittent, irrigation for 12 h and off for 48 h, and 3) irrigation to maintain field capacity, by daily additions of the respective irrigation water. The flow rate for continuous and intermittent irrigation treatments was 3.75 mm h‐1. In each greenhouse test, 5 levels of salinity were generated by mixing well‐produced water with deionized water to give solutions containing 0, 10, 20, 40, and 100% well‐produced water (specific conductance (second greenhouse test) of 0.2, 1.4, 2.2, 4.4, and 9.3 dS m‐1, respectively). Corresponding sodium adsorption ratios were 0.1, 27, 36, 55, and 81, respectively. Sorghum‐sudangrass [Sorghum bicolor(L.) Monech] was harvested for forage yields and chemical analysis at 14–30 days after initiation of irrigation treatments. Results from these preliminary short term, greenhouse studies show that coalbed methane produced water that is typical for Alabama (total dissolved solids ≤2000 mg L‐1) can be applied to highly weathered soils. The results indicate that plant growth of summer annual grasses will be optimized if an irrigation system is used to apply produced water at a rate to maintain soil moisture at or near field capacity.