Beetroot · Minhang, Shanghai, China
When to plant beetroot in Minhang
Main outdoor window
9-23 Feb
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
2 March
In Minhang, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
31 Mar - 20 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 Minhang
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 for autumn
30 Aug - 20 Sep
Counting back 84 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
9-23 Feb
Three weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
31 Mar - 20 Apr
Beetroot through the year
Against the frost risk in Minhang
Why these dates
Sow from three weeks before last frost, then every three weeks until ten weeks before first frost. Small roots taste better than large ones.
Seedlings take a light frost. Very early sowings into cold soil can trigger bolting later, so do not rush the first one.
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. Beetroot are timed for direct sowing 3 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Minhang.
The median frost-free season here is 287 days, against 50 to 70 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Minhang
Other vegetables to time
Growing beetroot in Minhang
When should I plant beetroot in Minhang?
Aim for 9-23 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 21 Feb - 7 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will beetroot be ready to harvest in Minhang?
Expect to start picking around 31 Mar - 20 Apr, based on 50 to 70 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will beetroot tolerate?
Seedlings take a light frost. Very early sowings into cold soil can trigger bolting later, so do not rush the first one.