Rye · Rabat, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Morocco
When to plant rye in Rabat
Main outdoor window
not outdoors here
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
no spring frost
In Rabat, on your chosen risk.
First autumn frost
no autumn frost
The far end of the outdoor season.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Rabat
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.
Rye through the year
Against the frost risk in Rabat
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 Rabat 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 Rabat 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 Rabat
Other grains to time
Growing rye in Rabat
How much frost will rye tolerate?
Survives to -25C or lower with snow cover. There is effectively no temperate winter that kills established rye.