Macadamia · Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan
When to plant macadamias in Sialkot
Main outdoor window
not outdoors here
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
no spring frost
In Sialkot, on your chosen risk.
First autumn frost
no autumn frost
The far end of the outdoor season.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Sialkot
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.
Macadamias through the year
Against the frost risk in Sialkot
Why these dates
Young trees are damaged at around -2C. Even a mature macadamia will not tolerate a hard frost, which confines it to genuinely frost-free climates.
Macadamias 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 Sialkot 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. Sialkot is zone 10b, 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 5, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Also in Sialkot
Other nuts to time
Growing macadamias in Sialkot
How much frost will macadamias tolerate?
Young trees are damaged at around -2C. Even a mature macadamia will not tolerate a hard frost, which confines it to genuinely frost-free climates.