In biology, the BBCH-scale for canola describes the phenological development of canola plants using the BBCH-scale.
Phenology is the study of periodic plant and animal life cycle events and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors. The word, coined by the Belgian botanist Charles Morren around 1849, is derived from the Greek φαίνω (phainō), "to show, to bring to light, make to appear" + λόγος (logos), amongst others "study, discourse, reasoning" and indicates that phenology has been principally concerned with the dates of first occurrence of biological events in their annual cycle. Examples include the date of emergence of leaves and flowers, the first flight of butterflies and the first appearance of migratory birds, the date of leaf colouring and fall in deciduous trees, the dates of egg-laying of birds and amphibia, or the timing of the developmental cycles of temperate-zone honey bee colonies. In the scientific literature on ecology, the term is used more generally to indicate the time frame for any seasonal biological phenomena, including the dates of last appearance.
The BBCH-scale is used to identify the phenological development stages of plants. BBCH-scales have been developed for a range of crop species where similar growth stages of each plant are given the same code.
The phenological growth stages and BBCH-identification keys of canola are:
| Growth stage | Code | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0: Germination | 00 | Dry seed |
| 01 | Beginning of seed imbibition | |
| 03 | Seed imbibition complete | |
| 05 | Radicle emerged from seed | |
| 07 | Hypocotyl with cotyledons emerged from seed | |
| 08 | Hypocotyl with cotyledons growing towards soil surface | |
| 09 | Emergence: cotyledons emerge through soil surface | |
| 1: Leaf development1 | ||
| 10 | Cotyledons completely unfolded | |
| 11 | First leaf unfolded | |
| 12 | 2 leaves unfolded | |
| 13 | 3 leaves unfolded | |
| 1 . | Stages continuous till . . . | |
| 19 | 9 or more leaves unfolded | |
| 2: Formation of side shoots | 20 | No side shoots |
| 21 | Beginning of side shoot development: first side shoot detectable | |
| 22 | 2 side shoots detectable | |
| 23 | 3 side shoots detectable | |
| 2 . | Stages continuous till . . . | |
| 29 | End of side shoot development: 9 or more side shoots detectable | |
| 3: Stem elongation2 | 30 | Beginning of stem elongation: no internodes (“rosette”) |
| 31 | 1 visibly extended internode | |
| 32 | 2 visibly extended internodes | |
| 33 | 3 visibly extended internodes | |
| 3 . | Stages continuous till . . . | |
| 39 | 9 or more visibly extended internodes | |
| 5: Inflorescence emergence | 50 | Flower buds present, still enclosed by leaves |
| 51 | Flower buds visible from above (“green bud”) | |
| 52 | Flower buds free, level with the youngest leaves | |
| 53 | Flower buds raised above the youngest leaves | |
| 55 | Individual flower buds (main inflorescence) visible but still closed | |
| 57 | Individual flower buds (secondary inflorescences) visible but still closed | |
| 59 | First petals visible, flower buds still closed (“yellow bud”) | |
| 6: Flowering | 60 | First flowers open |
| 61 | 10% of flowers on main raceme open, main raceme elongating | |
| 62 | 20% of flowers on main raceme open | |
| 63 | 30% of flowers on main raceme open | |
| 64 | 40% of flowers on main raceme open | |
| 65 | Full flowering: 50% flowers on main raceme open, older petals falling | |
| 67 | Flowering declining: majority of petals fallen | |
| 69 | End of flowering | |
| 7: Development of fruit | 71 | 10% of pods have reached final size |
| 72 | 20% of pods have reached final size | |
| 73 | 30% of pods have reached final size | |
| 74 | 40% of pods have reached final size | |
| 75 | 50% of pods have reached final size | |
| 76 | 60% of pods have reached final size | |
| 77 | 70% of pods have reached final size | |
| 78 | 80% of pods have reached final size | |
| 79 | Nearly all pods have reached final size | |
| 8: Ripening | 80 | Beginning of ripening: seed green, filling pod cavity |
| 81 | 10% of pods ripe, seeds dark and hard | |
| 82 | 20% of pods ripe, seeds dark and hard | |
| 83 | 30% of pods ripe, seeds dark and hard | |
| 84 | 40% of pods ripe, seeds dark and hard | |
| 85 | 50% of pods ripe, seeds dark and hard | |
| 86 | 60% of pods ripe, seeds dark and hard | |
| 87 | 70% of pods ripe, seeds dark and hard | |
| 88 | 80% of pods ripe, seeds dark and hard | |
| 89 | Fully ripe: nearly all pods ripe, seeds dark and hard | |
| 9: Senescence | 97 | Plant dead and dry |
| 99 | Harvested product | |
1 Stem elongation may occur earlier than stage 19; in this case continue with stage 20
2 Visibly extended internode n develops between leaf n and leaf n+1
