Grain · Poaceae
When to plant rye
The hardiest cereal grown, germinating in soil too cold for anything else and surviving winters that kill wheat outright. Also the best autumn cover crop for cold gardens.
Days to maturity
240-300
From sowing to a first picking.
Frost tolerance
Very hardy
How much cold the plant itself will take.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Rye are anchored to the first autumn frost rather than the last spring one, so the useful offset runs backwards from the end of the season instead of forwards from its start.
- Expect 240–300 days to maturity, counted from sowing.
- Can also be sown in late summer for an autumn crop or to overwinter.
Getting the timing right
Sow in autumn up to and even slightly after the first frost - rye germinates at soil temperatures near 2C, which no other grain will do. As a cover crop it must be cut before it sets seed or it becomes a weed.
Frost tolerance
Survives to -25C or lower with snow cover. There is effectively no temperate winter that kills established rye.
Classified as very-hardy, with damage expected below -25°C (-13°F)-13°F (-25°C).