Homestead mailing list

[<eureka AT hctc.net>]

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