How many days to grow a canola crop in your climate?

[AlbertaFarmer5]

I have been involved with analyzing canola variety trials for many years, and in Alberta the maturity for B. napus canola has ranged from 82 days to almost 140 days. The fewest days to maturity are usually in southern Alberta (similar to long season zone in Manitoba), and the highest are in west central Alberta (Olds, Carstairs, Innisfail). The days to maturity is related to day and night temperatures during the growing season (heat units). Since the night temperatures are much lower closer to the mountains, the days to maturity goes up. The central area west of highway 2, and the southwest portion of the Peace region tend to have the longest days to maturity (115 day average approximately).

Wow, thanks for the info, I never realized it could be that drastic.

Olds/Innisfail are weeks ahead of where I farm west of Innisfail, good to know that they are the longest days to maturity.....

If a variety is supposed to be 2 days longer than another, I consider that a week or more difference here.

A question that remains unanswered to me, is this: Is there a way to convince the crop that the growing season is coming to an end? I would rather have canola with fewer pods, but effectively fill every seed to its potential, than continue making pods for months with none able to fill to their potential. If I could grow seeds the size of what they do in Lethbridge I'd have 120+ bushel yeilds instead of half that with small seeds. Short season varieties don't take the hint any better than long season. Starving the crop for nutrients is effective, but not very economical solution.

MurrayH, is your last name perchance Hartman?

[MurrayH]

Yes to your last question.
Although several management practices can influence maturity slightly such as fertilizer and seeding rate, the plant's ability to respond to mid to late season rain after a dry early season creates this unproductive late podding. I suspect a mix of plant hormones applied several (many?) times could coerce these plants to stop reproductive growth and finish. I haven't seen any research on that.