Amaranth · Saratov, Saratov Oblast, Russia
When to plant amaranth in Saratov
Main outdoor window
4-25 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
27 April
In Saratov, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
12 Aug - 11 Sep
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Saratov
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Start indoors
30 Mar - 20 Apr
Four weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
4-25 May
One week after your last frost.
Plant out
11 May - 1 Jun
Two weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
12 Aug - 11 Sep
Amaranth through the year
Against the frost risk in Saratov
Why these dates
Sow after the last frost into warm soil. The seed is very fine and should barely be covered.
Killed by the first frost at either end of the season - it has no cold tolerance at all.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Amaranth are timed from 4 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Saratov.
The median frost-free season here is 168 days, against 100 to 130 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Saratov
Other grains to time
Growing amaranth in Saratov
When should I plant amaranth in Saratov?
Aim for 4-25 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 13 May - 3 Jun - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will amaranth be ready to harvest in Saratov?
Expect to start picking around 12 Aug - 11 Sep, based on 100 to 130 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will amaranth tolerate?
Killed by the first frost at either end of the season - it has no cold tolerance at all.