Growing rice hydroponically

Growing rice is fairly easy…Did you ever wonder how rice was grown? I have, and I’ve seen pictures and gathered small bits of information here and there and after some research, I have learned that rice is absolutely perfect to be grown in your hydroponics garden.

The variety of rice grown in Asia is planted and grown to maturity in flooded fields. First it is germinated in small containers the same as any seedling and after the first ‘true’ leaf forms, is transplanted into flooded fields.

It resembles a grain plant such as wheat, develops brownish flowers, and later develops seeds which is the rice we eat.

It matures in 3 to 6 months and shortly after seeds form the fields are drained which hastens plant maturity. When pods are fully developed the plant is picked and threshed the same as a grain to separate the seeds from the plant and then the seeds are dried for use. Rice containing some of the outer pod is brown rice and rice with no pod becomes white rice.

So how would we grow this hydroponically? An ebb and flow system is especially suited for the growing of rice.

First, buy some rice seeds from any of the many online sources, then germinate them in an ebb/flow hydroponics system, periodically flooding the system with nutrient solution. Rice is slow to germinate taking as long as 2 weeks to a month so have patience.

Once the first true leaf forms set the timer to flood the system for 12 hours, drain and immediately reflood for another 12 hours, over and over. Once seed pods form, reset the system to flood periodically keeping the growing medium slightly damp but not saturated.

After 2 weeks of this, harvest the pods and press them through a colander to separate the rice from the plant. Finally, spread the rice out on a screen until dry and it is ready to cook with…