Carrot · Hefei, Anhui, China
When to plant carrots in Hefei
Main outdoor window
20 Feb - 13 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
13 March
In Hefei, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
21 Apr - 11 May
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 Hefei
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 overwintering
1-22 Aug
Counting back 94 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
20 Feb - 13 Mar
Three weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
21 Apr - 11 May
Carrots through the year
Against the frost risk in Hefei
Why these dates
Sow from three weeks before last frost. Keep the seedbed continuously damp for the two to three weeks germination takes - this single detail decides most carrot crops.
Seedlings tolerate -6C. Mature roots can be left in the ground under mulch and lifted through winter in all but the coldest zones.
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. Carrots are timed for direct sowing 3 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Hefei.
The median frost-free season here is 256 days, against 60 to 80 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Hefei
Other vegetables to time
Growing carrots in Hefei
When should I plant carrots in Hefei?
Aim for 20 Feb - 13 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 4-25 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will carrots be ready to harvest in Hefei?
Expect to start picking around 21 Apr - 11 May, based on 60 to 80 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will carrots tolerate?
Seedlings tolerate -6C. Mature roots can be left in the ground under mulch and lifted through winter in all but the coldest zones.