Fenugreek · Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
When to plant fenugreek in Shimla
Main outdoor window
10-24 Jan
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
10 January
In Shimla, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
9 Feb - 10 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 Shimla
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 104 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
10-24 Jan
Around your last frost.
Harvest
9 Feb - 10 Apr
Fenugreek through the year
Against the frost risk in Shimla
Why these dates
Sow direct at the last frost date and every three weeks after for leaves. For seed, sow once early enough to allow ninety days before the first frost.
Seedlings tolerate a light frost to about -3C; the seed crop needs a frost-free finish.
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. Fenugreek are timed for direct sowing 0 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Shimla.
The median frost-free season here is 351 days, against 30 to 90 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Growing fenugreek in Shimla
When should I plant fenugreek in Shimla?
Aim for 10-24 Jan in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 10-24 Jan - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will fenugreek be ready to harvest in Shimla?
Expect to start picking around 9 Feb - 10 Apr, based on 30 to 90 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will fenugreek tolerate?
Seedlings tolerate a light frost to about -3C; the seed crop needs a frost-free finish.