Barley · Jining, Inner Mongolia, China
When to plant barley in Jining
Main outdoor window
23 Apr - 14 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
14 May
In Jining, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
22 Jul - 21 Aug
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 Jining
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.
Sow direct
23 Apr - 14 May
Three weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
22 Jul - 21 Aug
Barley through the year
Against the frost risk in Jining
Why these dates
Sow in early spring as soon as the ground is workable. Barley ripens two to three weeks ahead of wheat, which makes it the grain of choice where the season is short.
Seedlings tolerate about -8C. The short season means it usually finishes before the first autumn frost even in cold regions.
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. Barley are timed for direct sowing 3 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Jining.
The median frost-free season here is 140 days, against 90 to 120 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Jining
Other grains to time
Growing barley in Jining
When should I plant barley in Jining?
Aim for 23 Apr - 14 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 3-24 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will barley be ready to harvest in Jining?
Expect to start picking around 22 Jul - 21 Aug, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will barley tolerate?
Seedlings tolerate about -8C. The short season means it usually finishes before the first autumn frost even in cold regions.