Nasturtium · Arequipa, Arequipa, Peru
When to sow nasturtiums in Arequipa
Main outdoor window
26 Aug - 9 Sep
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
19 August
In Arequipa, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
15-30 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 Arequipa
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
26 Aug - 9 Sep
One week after your last frost.
In flower
15-30 Oct
Nasturtiums through the year
Against the frost risk in Arequipa
Why these dates
Direct sow after last frost. The large seed germinates readily and transplanting is unnecessary.
Frost-tender throughout. Often the first plant in the garden to signal that a frost occurred overnight.
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. Nasturtiums are timed for direct sowing 1 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Arequipa.
The median frost-free season here is 288 days, against 50 to 65 days to first flower for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Arequipa
Other flowers to time
Growing nasturtiums in Arequipa
When should I plant nasturtiums in Arequipa?
Aim for 26 Aug - 9 Sep in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 16-30 Sep - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will nasturtiums be ready to harvest in Arequipa?
Expect to start picking around 15-30 Oct, based on 50 to 65 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will nasturtiums tolerate?
Frost-tender throughout. Often the first plant in the garden to signal that a frost occurred overnight.