| | When water planting rice seed are sown into standing water, then the field is drained. If the seed are dry when sown, water may be left on the field for 24 to 48 hours before draining. |
| | One-leaf rice is a term referring to a rice seedling that has the first true leaf completely expanded. The seedling at left is not quite a one-leaf seedling. |
| | Three-leaf rice has three fully developed leaves. The seedling at left is between the two-leaf and three-leaf stages. |
| | | The appearance of three "crown nodes" indicates the green ring stage is about 10 days away. The septae (sing. septum) are dividing walls in the stem, in this case in the crown of the plant, hence the loose terminology "crown nodes." |
| | Green ring, properly termed internode elongation, is an important stage in rice development. It is used to time mid-season fertilization. It indicates the shift from vegetative growth to reproductive growth in the plant. |
| | Panicle differentiation is visible with a 10X hand lens or very good eyes. It can be used in timing of fungicide applications and other management strategies. |
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