Coriander · Wuhan, Hubei, China
When to plant coriander in Wuhan
Main outdoor window
7-17 Feb
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
21 February
In Wuhan, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
24 Mar - 18 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 Wuhan
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 autumn
24 Aug - 14 Sep
Counting back 84 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
7-17 Feb
Two weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
24 Mar - 18 Apr
Coriander through the year
Against the frost risk in Wuhan
Why these dates
Sow every two weeks from two weeks before last frost. The autumn sowing lasts far longer than any summer one, and in mild climates overwinters.
Takes -5C and grows happily in cool weather. Heat, not frost, is what ends a coriander plant.
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. Coriander are timed for direct sowing 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Wuhan.
The median frost-free season here is 289 days, against 45 to 70 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Growing coriander in Wuhan
When should I plant coriander in Wuhan?
Aim for 7-17 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 24 Feb - 6 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will coriander be ready to harvest in Wuhan?
Expect to start picking around 24 Mar - 18 Apr, based on 45 to 70 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will coriander tolerate?
Takes -5C and grows happily in cool weather. Heat, not frost, is what ends a coriander plant.