Age of seedlings
About 25 to 30 days age old healthy seedlings, when they attain 4-5 leaf stage, are used for transplanting of crop.

Time of transplanting
Because of sensitiveness to temperature fluctuations, optimum time of transplanting of rice is found from 1st June to 15 July and late transplanting should be done upto 2nd week of August. Appropriate time of transplanting is first fortnight of July. Delayed transplanting leads to poor tillering, early flowering (early October or later might have heavy degree of spikelet sterility due to falling down of atmospheric temperature) of main tillers and consequently reduction in the grain yield.

Method of transplanting
Generally two seedlings / hill are recommended at 20 x 15 cm distance under normal conditions. When old seedlings are to be transplanted, more seedlings i.e. 3 to 4 seedlings/hill should be planted, because older seedlings produce less number of tillers. There are two methods of transplanting in vogue (1) random and (2) line sowing (Japanese) - 20 x 15 cm. Gap filling should be completed within 8 to 10 days after transplanting.

In reclaimed salt affected coastal soils of south Gujarat, transplant 9 seedlings/hill at 15 x 10 cm for higher yield as this type of soil affects tillers.

Depth of transplanting
Tillering takes place at the first stem node above the root. If the seedlings are planted deeper than 5 cm, tillering takes place at a node near the soil surface 2-5 nodes above the first stem node. The tillers arise from the upper nodes are generally weaker than those from the lower nodes, besides there is a delay in the formation of tillers. Therefore, planting at medium depth i.e. 3 to 5 cm is preferable as compared to deeper planting as it ensures a fairly good set of ancillary attributes which contributes to high grain production in coastal reclaimed saline-alkaline soil.