Rye · Manhattan, New York, United States
When to plant rye in Manhattan
Main outdoor window
23 Sep - 7 Oct
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
15 April
In Manhattan, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Jul - 31 Aug
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Manhattan
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Drill or broadcast the seed
23 Sep - 7 Oct
Four to six weeks before your first frost, so roots form before the ground cools.
Harvest
1 Jul - 31 Aug
Rye through the year
Against the frost risk in Manhattan
Why these dates
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.
Survives to -25C or lower with snow cover. There is effectively no temperate winter that kills established rye.
Rye are anchored to the first autumn frost rather than the last spring one, so the planting window on this page counts backwards from the end of the season in Manhattan instead of forwards from its start.
This is a two-season crop, so the dates above describe a sowing in one year and a harvest in the next. The plant spends the winter in the ground as a small rosette, which is why the frost-free season in Manhattan does not limit it the way it would limit a tomato: it is not trying to finish before the cold arrives, it is trying to be well enough rooted to sit through it. Sowing too late is the real risk, because a plant that goes into winter undersized often fails to flower at all the following year.
Also in Manhattan
Other grains to time
Growing rye in Manhattan
When should I plant rye in Manhattan?
Aim for 23 Sep - 7 Oct in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 12-26 Sep - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will rye be ready to harvest in Manhattan?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jul - 31 Aug, based on 240 to 300 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will rye tolerate?
Survives to -25C or lower with snow cover. There is effectively no temperate winter that kills established rye.