Cumin · Hengshan, Heilongjiang, China
When to plant cumin in Hengshan
Main outdoor window
21 May - 11 Jun
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
7 May
In Hengshan, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
29 Aug - 28 Sep
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 Hengshan
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
26 Mar - 16 Apr
Six weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
21 May - 11 Jun
Two weeks after your last frost.
Plant out
21 May - 11 Jun
Two weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
29 Aug - 28 Sep
Cumin through the year
Against the frost risk in Hengshan
Why these dates
No frost tolerance. Killed at 0C.
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. Cumin are timed from 6 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Hengshan.
The median frost-free season here is 149 days, against 100 to 130 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Growing cumin in Hengshan
When should I plant cumin in Hengshan?
Aim for 21 May - 11 Jun in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 28 May - 18 Jun - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will cumin be ready to harvest in Hengshan?
Expect to start picking around 29 Aug - 28 Sep, based on 100 to 130 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will cumin tolerate?
No frost tolerance. Killed at 0C.