Safe to Plant

Claytonia · Valdivia, Los RĂ­os Region, Chile

When to plant claytonia in Valdivia

Main outdoor window

11 Nov - 9 Dec

The window this page is built around.

Timed from last spring frost

2 September

In Valdivia, on your chosen risk.

Ready to pick

1 May - 28 Oct

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 Valdivia

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

24 Feb - 17 Mar

Counting back 74 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.

Sow direct

11 Nov - 9 Dec

Ten weeks after your last frost.

Harvest

1 May - 28 Oct

Sow in succession. A single sowing gives you a single glut. Sow a short row every 21 days through the window above and you get a steady supply instead.
Frost tolerance
Very-hardy
Damaged below
-12°C (10.4°F)
Days to maturity
45–60
Min soil temp
4°C (39.2°F)
Spacing
15 cm
Sowing depth
5 mm (0.2 in)
Sun
Partial

Claytonia through the year

Against the frost risk in Valdivia

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

Frost risk Autumn sowing Sow direct Harvest Today

Why these dates

Sow in late summer, roughly ten weeks after midsummer, for picking from late autumn onwards. It self-seeds freely, so one deliberate sowing often becomes a permanent patch.

Hardy to about -12C and unbothered by repeated freezing, which is why it was a winter green long before it was a salad leaf.

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. Claytonia are timed for direct sowing 10 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Valdivia.

The median frost-free season here is 270 days, against 45 to 60 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 Valdivia →

Growing claytonia in Valdivia

When should I plant claytonia in Valdivia?

Aim for 11 Nov - 9 Dec in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 16 Dec - 13 Jan - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.

When will claytonia be ready to harvest in Valdivia?

Expect to start picking around 1 May - 28 Oct, based on 45 to 60 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.

How much frost will claytonia tolerate?

Hardy to about -12C and unbothered by repeated freezing, which is why it was a winter green long before it was a salad leaf.