Perennial Rye

Here’s a tray of perennial rye, part of Tim Peters perennial grains project.  Over the last few days I’ve been busy planting this out in the garden.  In part because it’s known this seed has a lower than average rate of germination, I’ve started it in the containers above before setting it out.

Like is pretty normal for me, I’m late.  Not only am I a bit late in the season, Tim says July or August is better, but in this case I’m also a year late.  I missed getting it out last year, because I was too busy.  This of course means everyone else doing this project will likely be a year ahead of me.

Since it’s a perennial plant, in fact it doesn’t really matter I’m a little late.  It will grow back again next year anyway.  The reason for getting it in a little earlier than I did was because the plants need to store up energy this year, in order to produce seed next year.  Because I’m late, I risk a lower seed harvest next year.

7 Replies to “Perennial Rye”

  1. It looks like a very interesting project
    it would be nice to test some perenial grains
    Hope your rye grows well, good luck!

  2. Good luck with them. Perennial grains are a very interesting and valuable area of research. They’ll probably continue growing into the autumn, if rye is anything to go by, developing nice big root systems. If you can keep them protected a bit asnd pot them on, they might catch up. If they get stunted, that might stimulate them to flower, leading to a smaller harvest.

  3. Hi Owen,

    They are mostly all out by now, safely under netting to protect them from our ravenous birds. I don’t think they got root bound enough to stunt the growth, in fact most weren’t root bound at all. I’m optimistic they’ll do well, but at the same time a little frustrated I wasn’t organized enough to get them out a month earlier!

    I think there must be a Peter Principle with gardening, that everything has to be late, at least for me.

  4. Hi Patrick,

    I, too, am running a year late with the Perennial Rye project. My seedlings died because we just plain ran out of water.

    Oh well, almost time to try again, so I am curious about your comment that, “Tim says July or August is better…” That would be late Summer into Autumn for you, so I figure I should wait until Jan or Feb here? OTOH we don’t have your harsh Winter, so I’m trying to figure out when will be the best time for sowing. Any suggestions?

  5. Hi Mike,

    That’s really a good question, and I’m not sure I’m really qualified to give a good answer. Do you have Tim’s email address? I suggest sending him an email.

    What Tim has told me in the past is that the rye is perennial, so it should in theory not matter when you plant it. You do want to give it the best start in life, and in my climate that means letting it get established before winter sets in, and this is how annual rye is grown here. Maybe in your climate that means planting at the beginning of the rainy season?

    I’m pretty sure once the plants are established, they will be far more drought tolerant. Rye is supposed to develop a very extensive and strong root system.

    Let me know if you need more seeds, and I’ll get them for you and send them.

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