Parsley root · Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
When to plant parsley root in Nanjing
Main outdoor window
28 Feb - 21 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
14 March
In Nanjing, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Sep - 31 Dec
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 Nanjing
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 Feb - 21 Mar
Two weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
1 Sep - 31 Dec
Parsley root through the year
Against the frost risk in Nanjing
Why these dates
Sow two weeks before the last frost and expect three to four weeks before anything appears. Lift from autumn or leave in the ground and dig as needed.
The root is hardy well below -12C and sweetens after frost, exactly as a parsnip does.
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. Parsley root are timed for direct sowing 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Nanjing.
The median frost-free season here is 258 days, against 90 to 120 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Nanjing
Other vegetables to time
Growing parsley root in Nanjing
When should I plant parsley root in Nanjing?
Aim for 28 Feb - 21 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 12 Mar - 2 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will parsley root be ready to harvest in Nanjing?
Expect to start picking around 1 Sep - 31 Dec, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will parsley root tolerate?
The root is hardy well below -12C and sweetens after frost, exactly as a parsnip does.