'Kon Suito' Upland Rice

Oryza sativa

Origin: Mongolia

Improvement status: Cultivar

Seeds per packet: ~70

Germination tested 11/2023: 78%

Life cycle: Annual

A light brown, medium-grained, awned rice of the japonica type, 'Kon Suito' is originally from Mongolia and is quickly gaining popularity in the Upper Midwest and New England as an excellent rice for northern areas. It's one of the shortest-season rices you can find, ripening from planting in under 90 days. This is an upland rice, so you don't need any kind of flooded rice paddy to grow it. This seed was grown for us by our friends Skye Harnsberger and Dylan Bruce of Circadian Organics in Ferryville, Wisconsin.

GROWING TIPS: Direct seeding may be possible for this relatively cold-tolerant and early flowering variety, but we recommend soaking 24 hours and starting indoors up to 3 weeks before last frost, then transplanting after danger of frost. Space plants a foot apart. Water frequently while the plant is growing, and especially during flowering — as much water as you would give tomatoes or corn. Cut and bundle before frost when husks are dry.