Fennel · Ghulja, Xinjiang, China
When to plant fennel in Ghulja
Main outdoor window
28 Mar - 18 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
11 April
In Ghulja, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Jun - 31 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 Ghulja
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 direct
28 Mar - 18 Apr
Two weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
1 Jun - 31 Oct
Fennel through the year
Against the frost risk in Ghulja
Why these dates
Sow direct around the last frost. Keep well away from dill - the two cross readily and the resulting seedlings taste of neither.
The crown is hardy to about -12C and regrows each spring from the root.
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. Fennel are timed for direct sowing 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Ghulja.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Ghulja is zone 7a, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.
Do not expect a crop in the first year. A plant set out now should give its first worthwhile pick around year 1, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Growing fennel in Ghulja
When should I plant fennel in Ghulja?
Aim for 28 Mar - 18 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 11 Apr - 2 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will fennel be ready to harvest in Ghulja?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jun - 31 Oct, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will fennel tolerate?
The crown is hardy to about -12C and regrows each spring from the root.