Grain Glossary

These are terms encountered when cultivating grains - a work in progress

Facultative grains: cultivars that have weak to no vernalization requirements, which means they readily progress through their growth stages regardless if planted in the spring or fall.

Hard dough stage:

Milk stage:

Pollination, Wind:

Pollination, Self:

Soft dough stage:

Spring grains: cultivars not requiring an extended cold period that when planted in the spring progress through their lifecycle for harvest in the consecutive summer.

Tiller / Tillering:

Vernalization: the necessary exposure to cold (typically several weeks below 45°F / 7°C) for a grain to progress through its lifecycle, specifically required to initiate flowering when conditions are favorable. Plants go into dormancy once the vernalization requirements are met and growth resumes as day length increases and temperatures begin to rise.

Winter grains: cultivars that have a strong vernalization requirement.