A large field of green cereal rye under a cloudy sky
How to grow

Cereal rye

Takes a hard frost. Sow in fall from 6 weeks before to 3 weeks after your first fall frost. Ready to turn under 200 to 240 days from sowing.

Photo: “Large field of rye - geograph.org.uk - 6169398” by Adrian S Pye, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). The cropped version is shared under the same licence.

  • Full sun6–8 hours or more
  • 200–240 daysTo turn under
  • Soil 34 °F +pH 6.0–7.0
  • HardyTakes a hard frost

Your dates

Put in your ZIP code to see when to start, plant and harvest cereal rye where you live, from your own frost dates.

Look up the frost dates for this ZIP code
Open my planting calendarOpen the planting calendar Add this crop to the calendar saved on this device

From seed to harvest

  1. SowSeed goes inWeek 0
  2. SproutFirst shoots showWeek 1
  3. Ground coverCovers the soilWeek 3–6
  4. OverwinterHolds through winterWeek 8–12
  5. FlowersFlowers openWeek 28–32
  6. TerminateCut or turn underWeek 29–34

How to plant and grow

  1. Sow around first frost

    Sow from a few weeks before to about two weeks after your average first fall frost. Earlier sowing gives much more cover and biomass.

  2. Sow and cover

    Broadcast the seed and rake it in, or drill it 1 to 1.5 inches deep and no deeper than 2 inches.

  3. Water to establish

    If fall is dry, sprinkle every couple of days until the rye is about 6 inches tall. After that, rain is usually enough.

  4. Let it overwinter

    Rye is very winter hardy and keeps growing in mild spells, holding soil and soaking up leftover nitrogen.

  5. Terminate at flowering

    Mow, crimp or roll it once it sheds pollen, since rye cut earlier often regrows. Cover with a heavy tarp or till it in to finish the kill.

  6. Wait and add nitrogen

    Let residue break down about 3 to 4 weeks before planting. Mature rye ties up nitrogen, so add a nitrogen source at planting.

Common problems

Orange rust pustules covering the underside of a mint leaf
Photo: “Puccinia menthae a1 (2)” by Jerzy Opioła, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). The cropped version is shared under the same licence.

RustDisease

What you'll see: Orange to rusty-brown powdery bumps on leaves and stems, turning black late in the season. Badly hit plants yellow and drop leaves.

Prevent

  • Grow resistant varieties.
  • Clear and destroy infected tops and debris after harvest, including asparagus ferns in fall, and remove wild asparagus nearby.
  • Water at the base and avoid crowding.

Organic options

  • Sulfur, started when rust first shows.

Conventional options

  • Myclobutanil or propiconazole, if the crop is on the label.

Bee caution: Don't spray open flowers. Spray in the late evening, when bees aren't flying.

Dark purple ergot bodies growing from a rye head
Photo: megachile, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

ErgotDiseaseNo spray helps

What you'll see: Hard, purple-black, horn-shaped bodies replace some grains in rye heads. They are poisonous to people and livestock.

Prevent

  • Kill a rye cover crop before it flowers, so no ergot forms.
  • Rotate with a broadleaf crop; ergot bodies seldom survive more than a year in soil.
  • Mow grassy edges before they flower.

Organic options

  • Never save seed or feed grain from heads with ergot bodies.

Conventional options

  • None worth using. Timing and rotation control it.
A fall armyworm caterpillar on the soil beside a seedling
Photo: “Fall Armyworm” by Jaylython, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). The cropped version is shared under the same licence.

ArmywormsPest

What you'll see: Striped green to brown caterpillars feed at night and strip rye leaves, sometimes cutting off heads. Once the rye is killed they move onto the next crop.

Prevent

  • Scout dense, lush rye and grassy edges at dusk or on cloudy days, when the caterpillars feed.
  • Kill rye early where you can; rye that is already dead draws fewer egg-laying moths.
  • Check for caterpillars before planting into killed rye.

Organic options

  • Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki) works on small caterpillars. Look for OMRI Listed products.

Conventional options

  • Permethrin or zeta-cypermethrin, if the label lists small grains or the crop that follows. Cover crops are often not on labels.

Bee caution: Don't spray open flowers. Spray in the late evening, when bees aren't flying.

A bean plant with pale yellow-green leaves from nitrogen shortage
Photo: “Phaseolus vulgaris nitrogen deficiency” by Rasbak, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). The cropped version is shared under the same licence.

Nitrogen tie-upGrowing problemNo spray helps

What you'll see: Crops planted into tall, mature rye stay pale and slow. Soil microbes use up the nitrogen while they break the rye down.

Prevent

  • Kill rye while it is young and leafy, under about 8 inches tall where you can.
  • Kill it 10 to 14 days or more before planting the next crop.

Organic options

  • When rye was killed late, add compost or another organic nitrogen source at planting.

Conventional options

  • A starter nitrogen fertilizer at planting. Nothing sprayed on the leaves fixes it.

Read and follow the product label: it is the law. It sets the rate, the crops it is for, and the days between spraying and picking. Products registered vary by state; for organic growing, look for products allowed under the USDA National Organic Program (OMRI Listed). We name active ingredients, not brands or rates.

ShareShare a link to this growing guide.

Share this growing guide

The link opens this growing guide, so anyone can read it and look up their own planting dates.

FacebookShare this link on Facebook.XShare this link on X.LinkedInShare this link on LinkedIn.RedditShare this link on Reddit.PinterestShare this link on Pinterest.EmailEmail this link.Open your device's share menu. Copy the link to your clipboard.

Growing more than you can eat? Sell it at a farm stand. TallyTill takes cards and keeps count of what sells, and the Stand plan is free.

Get started with TallyTill for free

Sources

Planting dates and growing facts checked against these university extension and USDA pages:

Growth-stage drawings: TallyTill.

Reconnecting…
One moment — we're restoring your session.