Barley · Kathmandu, Bagmati Province, Nepal
When to plant barley in Kathmandu
Main outdoor window
18 Dec - 8 Jan
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
8 January
In Kathmandu, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
18 Mar - 17 Apr
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 Kathmandu
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
18 Dec - 8 Jan
Three weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
18 Mar - 17 Apr
Barley through the year
Against the frost risk in Kathmandu
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 Kathmandu.
Also in Kathmandu
Other grains to time
Growing barley in Kathmandu
When should I plant barley in Kathmandu?
Aim for 18 Dec - 8 Jan in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 18 Dec - 8 Jan - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will barley be ready to harvest in Kathmandu?
Expect to start picking around 18 Mar - 17 Apr, 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.