Kumquat · Huainan, Anhui, China
When to plant kumquats in Huainan
Main outdoor window
30 Mar - 27 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
16 March
In Huainan, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Dec - 31 Mar
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 Huainan
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.
Plant the shrub
30 Mar - 27 Apr
After the last frost, once the soil has warmed. This crop is never fully dormant, so it cannot be planted bare-root in winter.
Harvest
1 Dec - 31 Mar
Kumquats through the year
Against the frost risk in Huainan
Why these dates
Goes semi-dormant in cold weather, which lets it take short spells near -8C - better than any true citrus.
Kumquats are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. Nor is there a dormant season to plant into: this crop keeps its leaves and keeps growing through the winter, which is exactly why cold damages it. The window on this page therefore waits until the last frost in Huainan has passed and the soil has begun to warm, giving the roots the longest possible run before the cold returns.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Huainan is zone 8b, 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 2, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Also in Huainan
Other fruits to time
Growing kumquats in Huainan
When should I plant kumquats in Huainan?
Aim for 30 Mar - 27 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 9 Apr - 7 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will kumquats be ready to harvest in Huainan?
Expect to start picking around 1 Dec - 31 Mar, based on 180 to 240 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will kumquats tolerate?
Goes semi-dormant in cold weather, which lets it take short spells near -8C - better than any true citrus.