Last edited on 2 Nov 2026. View history
Milmore Downs Rye
A variety of rye
How to sow Milmore Downs rye: Broadcast direct seed
Sun requirement for Milmore Downs rye: Plant in Full Sun
A traditional rye bred and grown organically for many years at Milmore Downs in Canterbury, very tall with bluish stems and heads and reddish new shoots. Rye needs no hulling, which suits small-scale grain growing, and it can reportedly be grown on the same soil for many years without harm. Sow in trays and transplant at 5 to 8 cm high once soil is 15 to 16 °C, 30 cm apart on the diagonal.
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Milmore downs rye facts
Lifespan
Crop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For Milmore Downs rye, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 3°C and a shortest growing cycle of 110 days at its best temperature, about 1595 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your Milmore Downs rye will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
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Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Secale cereale L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Liliopsida Commelinidae Cyperales Gramineae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: -1 °C, rest: -18 °C |
| Life form | grass |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | heavy, medium, light |
| Optimal soil fertility | moderate |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours) |
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