Safe to Plant

Buckwheat · Mianyang, Sichuan, China

When to plant buckwheat in Mianyang

Main outdoor window

4-18 Mar

The window this page is built around.

Timed from last spring frost

25 February

In Mianyang, on your chosen risk.

Ready to pick

13 May - 2 Jun

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 Mianyang

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

4-18 Mar

One week after your last frost.

Harvest

13 May - 2 Jun

Sow in succession. A single sowing gives you a single glut. Sow a short row every 30 days through the window above and you get a steady supply instead.
Frost tolerance
Tender
Damaged below
0°C (32°F)
Days to maturity
70–90
Min soil temp
10°C (50°F)
Spacing
15 cm
Sowing depth
20 mm (0.8 in)
Sun
Full

Buckwheat through the year

Against the frost risk in Mianyang

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Frost risk Sow direct Harvest Today

Why these dates

Sow after the last frost, any time up to about eleven weeks before the first. Because it matures so fast it can follow an early crop and still finish, and it smothers weeds while doing so.

Killed outright by the lightest frost, which is exactly why it works as a summer cover crop that clears itself away in autumn.

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. Buckwheat are timed for direct sowing 1 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Mianyang.

The median frost-free season here is 286 days, against 70 to 90 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.

See every crop timed for Mianyang →

Growing buckwheat in Mianyang

When should I plant buckwheat in Mianyang?

Aim for 4-18 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 21 Mar - 4 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.

When will buckwheat be ready to harvest in Mianyang?

Expect to start picking around 13 May - 2 Jun, based on 70 to 90 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.

How much frost will buckwheat tolerate?

Killed outright by the lightest frost, which is exactly why it works as a summer cover crop that clears itself away in autumn.