Carrot · Zhoukou, Henan, China
When to plant carrots in Zhoukou
Main outdoor window
21 Feb - 14 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
14 March
In Zhoukou, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
22 Apr - 12 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 Zhoukou
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
26 Jul - 16 Aug
Counting back 94 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
21 Feb - 14 Mar
Three weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
22 Apr - 12 May
Carrots through the year
Against the frost risk in Zhoukou
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 Zhoukou.
The median frost-free season here is 249 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 Zhoukou
Other vegetables to time
Growing carrots in Zhoukou
When should I plant carrots in Zhoukou?
Aim for 21 Feb - 14 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 9-30 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will carrots be ready to harvest in Zhoukou?
Expect to start picking around 22 Apr - 12 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.