Cauliflower · Shijie, Guangdong, China
When to plant cauliflowers in Shijie
Main outdoor window
4-25 Jan
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
18 January
In Shijie, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
10 Mar - 9 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 Shijie
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.
Start indoors
30 Nov - 21 Dec
Seven weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow for autumn
12 Aug - 2 Sep
Counting back 109 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Plant out
4-25 Jan
Two weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
10 Mar - 9 Apr
Cauliflowers through the year
Against the frost risk in Shijie
Why these dates
Steady moisture and steady temperature matter more than the exact sowing week. Autumn maturity is easier to achieve than spring in most climates.
Tolerates light frost but the curd itself is damaged below about -3C. Fold leaves over developing heads when frost threatens.
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. Cauliflowers are timed from 7 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Shijie.
The median frost-free season here is 336 days, against 65 to 95 days to maturity for this crop counted from planting out. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Shijie
Other vegetables to time
Growing cauliflowers in Shijie
When should I plant cauliflowers in Shijie?
Aim for 4-25 Jan in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 10-31 Jan - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will cauliflowers be ready to harvest in Shijie?
Expect to start picking around 10 Mar - 9 Apr, based on 65 to 95 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will cauliflowers tolerate?
Tolerates light frost but the curd itself is damaged below about -3C. Fold leaves over developing heads when frost threatens.