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  • From: <eureka AT hctc.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Additional Rice Information
  • Date: Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:28:47 -0600

On Sun, 02 Nov 2008 01:13:01 -0500
EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:
Rice needs a minimum temp of 50-55 degrees to germinate and grow. During active growth, temps need to be near 75

Sounds like I will need to plant in the spring instead of summer, that's when our temps are in this range. By May, it's too hot. The seeds will have to go in production about the same time as everything else--I'm wondering if I'll have room in the green house. If my calculations are correct (9 per sf), I would need 1,593 rice plants to fill 177 sf at 4 inches spacing. That would be about 25 flats of rice plants! I'm wondering if I could use a hybrid method with Fukuoka's and just seed directly.

He writes "Of course the usual method is to keep several inches of water in the paddy throughout the growing season. Farmers have been growing rice in water for so many centuries that most people believe that it cannot be grown any other way". According to him, "Rice plants grow best when the water content in the soil is between 60 and 80 percent of its water holding capacity. When the field is not flooded, the plants develop stronger roots and are extremely resistant to attacks by disease and insects". He only holds water for one week in June (that's Japan's monsoon season) to kill dry-field weeds. (not sure what month this would correspond to our respective climates). He has already interplanted with clover, and the water knocks back the clover, allowing the rice to get established, and once it does, the clover fills in again as a cover crop helping to retain the moisture in the soil. I presuming he is using a short type of clover. Using his method, the plants are more compact, making less straw, but about the same amount of grain.

--Sage




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