Sake rice cultivation trials 2013

Sake Rice Growth Trials

These are the rice seedlings:

So one of my big goals is to make organic junmai ginjo jizake.

By Jizake I mean:

-1) Use sake yeast that I have slanted and then re-propagated

-2) Koji made from home-cultivated koji kin

-3) Well water from my tap

and lastly,

-4) Home grown and home polished rice

I feel like this will allow me to produce and participate in a process that is much more like what jizake makers in Japan make and experience. I really like the concept of a regional and local style.

In taking steps towards this goal, I have begun some sake rice growth trials. This is one of the last steps needed to complete the goal. However, because I’m just growing a few plants of each type this growing season, it will be next fall before I can actually cultivate enough (~65lbs) to make a 2.5X batch of sake.

This year, I plan to collect data like:

  • Days to maturity

  • Susceptibility to lodging, pests, and disease

  • Yield/plant/sq ft.

I’ve got 6 Japanese varieties started including well-known sake rice strains like Omachi and Wataribune. I’ve got another 12 varieties that might be good that I didn’t start.

We’ll see how it goes. Based on my results this year I’ll select the top 1 or 2 producing varieties to grow next season albeit on a slightly larger scale.

平和,

MPFbrewer

Ooooh! Good luck! This promises to be interesting.

That is really cool, MPF. I’ve always wanted to grow a bit of rice. Aren’t you going to need some sort of flooding setup?

Yeah…

The trays in the picture are just my germination/seedling set up. I have a 3x12 foot row in my garden that I’m going to plant them in after May 15th.

The whole ebb/flow rice growing system is mainly done for weed control and isn’t totally necessary. Since I’m only growing on a small scale, I can control weeds manually by hand.

Next season, I’m going to prepare a much larger area with levees that will allow me to control the
flood and drain processes.

I really got inspired to do this after seeing what Masa Shiroki did up in Canada.

See

http://www.radio-canada.ca/audio-video/pop.shtml#urlMedia=http://www.radio-canada.ca/Medianet/2012/CBFT/2012-04-28_18_00_00_sv_2063_02_1200.asx

It can be done!

平和,

MPFbrewer

Aha. Too cool! Keep it up. Growing your own sake rice is pure greatness.

“With a successful harvest in the Fraser Valley in 2012, OSAKE’s 2013 production will include batches made from 100% BC grown rice”

I like the write up about his endeavor.

Quick update…growing rice is awesome! Its been really fun to watch the plants develop since their initial germination back in April…

In preparation for a much anticipated outplanting, I got the cover crop in the small rice plot cut a couple of weeks ago…

and now its ready to be turned into the rice growing soil

My hope is that it will cover the majority of the N requirement this season.

Our weather has been warm and above average lately. Depending on how the 5 day weather forecast looks this weekend, I may be able to plant the rice starts earlier than expected. I just have to be careful because the plants are not tolerant of frost.

Most of the plants are still small, in the 2-4 leaf stage, and have roots just barely starting to grow out of the bottom of the pots.

Once I get them in the ground and it warms up a bit more, I suspect they’ll put on quite a bit of growth. And finally, if all goes well, they will take about 110-120 days to reach maturity.

平和,

-MPFbrewer

Got the rice (all 50 plants) in the ground over the weekend…

Now I need to stay on top of the watering and weeding.

These plants are going to grow fast with the warming temperatures here in the valley.

平和,

-MPFbrewer

So it’s been about 79 days since the rice was transplanted into the test plot. So far it’s looking good!

By my inexperienced judgment, I think I’m currently in the vegetative lag phase that directly precedes the reproductive stage. I’m hoping to see panicle initiation soon. Considering I only have about 51-60 more growing days this season, it’s really coming down to the wire as far as the potential for this to yield some decent rice.

As you can see, compared to commercial rice growing, I’ve taken a pretty unconventional approach. For instance, I am not growing in a paddy (flooded field), nor am I using warmed water when I irrigate. These plants have had about zero pressure from weeds and they have been given a few good doses of (3-2-4) liquid fertilizer (70% organic / 30% inorganic). So considering all that, I’m pretty happy with where these plants are at.

A couple have what looks like some mild disease symptoms i.e chlorotic blotches and streaks. I haven’t been able to figure out exactly what is causing it though. I think I might take a sample into OSU extension soon to see if they have any clue.

All in all, I’m optimistic about how this experiment/research will turn out. It’s definitely been fun and educational watching them grow.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll be sure to update the thread when panicle initiation begins. Until then, send some positive rice growing vibes this way.

平和,

-MPFbrewer

Looks great man! Hadn’ heard from you in a while, I was beginning to wonder…
So what’s a guy gotta do to bribe some rice grains (for re-planting) once you cut the heads?

Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help… I’m moving along with my aquaponics project. I just collected the rain water I need to start cycling the ammonia.

I’ll have six grow beds using home made LED grow lights (460nm… pink and 660nm… red; had the best results per a NASA deep space experiment)

Anyway, it looks great!

The “samurai” rice strain has been flowering for two weeks now!

Here is a picture of the anthers emerging

Quite a few panicles

Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the grains to ripen.

Saketume,

Thanks for the offer to help. I can’t really think of anything I need right at the moment.

I’ll see what I end up with. I might be able to send you some seed. Otherwise just go onto amazon and order some koshi hikari.

http://www.amazon.com/Rice-Plant-Plus-Seeds-Organic/dp/B004E7N8D6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1377986271&sr=8-4&keywords=rice+seed

In regards to your aquaponics array, what wattage are your LED’s going to be? I’m intrigued about the concept. Do you think 1-2 tons of rice could be grown that way?

I really wish I could get some Yamada nishiki seed. That would be awesome.

平和,

-MPFbrewer

[quote=“MPFbrewer”]In regards to your aquaponics array, what wattage are your LED’s going to be? I’m intrigued about the concept. Do you think 1-2 tons of rice could be grown that way?
-MPFbrewer[/quote]

The LEDs I’m looking at are 3W. I don’t know how many plants would be necessary to grow that much rice… but I’m almost positive it would be more than could be grown with a small aquaponics setup like I am working on.

The AP project has been on hold for a while… too many other projects have stacked up, that and having a woman move in and out tend to take away time for projects.

I’m slowly gathering materials for the build… I picked up some aluminum H-beams from the scrap yard to use as mounting surface for the LEDs… which, ideally, will also serve as a moderate heat sink. I found a nice blog of a guy that did something very similar to what I am wanting to do… here’s the link if you’d like to see…

There are several well written blog posts that would be worth the read IMO. My color choices will not be exactly like his, but they’re not at all bad.

Inspired by MPFbrewer, I have started my own trials. Three types of Omachi, which are shown below, plus two Yamada…one being Yamada Nishiki :smiley:

[attachment=1]rice trial 1a.jpg[/attachment]

And the first transplant.

[attachment=0]rice trial 2a.jpg[/attachment]

In the next few days they all get transplanted to the larger trays and into the warm grow room until the weather here is warm enough overnight to get them outside.

Every type germinated at probably 90% except the Yamada Nishiki. I only germinated about 20-25%, but with luck, I’ll be able to harvest enough for a proper go next year.

@MPFbrewer - Do you have numbers for your final yield for your trials?

Hi
I am new in this forum
I am looking for Omachi and Yamadanishiki rice seed.
100 to 150 Kg
Any idea where can we find it?
Is for sake brewing in Mexico, first trial…

Hi
I am looking for Omachi or Yamadanishiki rice seed.
Any idea where I can buy some.
100-150 kgs