Burdock · Mianyang, Sichuan, China
When to plant burdock in Mianyang
Main outdoor window
25 Feb - 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
1 Sep - 30 Nov
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
25 Feb - 18 Mar
Around your last frost.
Harvest
1 Sep - 30 Nov
Burdock through the year
Against the frost risk in Mianyang
Why these dates
Sow around the last frost date and lift from autumn onwards, once the root has had a full season to extend. Roots left in the ground keep perfectly well over winter.
The root is hardy to -8C and below, so lifting can be spread across the whole winter rather than done all at once.
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. Burdock are timed for direct sowing 0 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 100 to 140 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Mianyang
Other vegetables to time
Growing burdock in Mianyang
When should I plant burdock in Mianyang?
Aim for 25 Feb - 18 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 14 Mar - 4 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will burdock be ready to harvest in Mianyang?
Expect to start picking around 1 Sep - 30 Nov, based on 100 to 140 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will burdock tolerate?
The root is hardy to -8C and below, so lifting can be spread across the whole winter rather than done all at once.