Rice is flowering stage

Today we took air samples from our rice field AFRI project. We'll send the samples to our team at UC Davis who will check the totals. We take three carbon (gas) samples from each side of the field to see if there is any change to the amount of carbon emitted into air from each stage the rice is in. We take air samples every two weeks.

There are three main growth stages of the rice plant:

1. vegetative (germination to panicle initiation)

2. reproductive (panicle initiation to flowering)

3. ripening (flowering to mature grain)

Right now the rice on Jersey Island is at the flowering stage. The flowering stage begins with the emergence of the first anthers from the 'uppermost spikelets on each panicle.

Each individual spikelet flowers for only several hours during the middle of the day on two or three successive days.

Flowering begins among the uppermost spikelets and continues for approximately 15 days regardless of variety as the remaining spikelets successively open (the lowermost spikelets flowering last). During flowering, pollen from the anthers is transported by wind and insects to the stigma, which carry it down into the ovaries where fertilization of the ovules occurs.

In another week or so we will be draining the water from the field and letting the rice dry out which will take several weeks.