Purslane · Wuwei, Gansu, China
When to plant purslane in Wuwei
Main outdoor window
8 May - 5 Jun
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
24 April
In Wuwei, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Jun - 30 Sep
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 Wuwei
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
8 May - 5 Jun
Two weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
1 Jun - 30 Sep
Purslane through the year
Against the frost risk in Wuwei
Why these dates
Sow onto warm soil two weeks after the last frost, barely covered. It germinates badly in cool ground and then grows very fast once summer arrives.
Killed outright at 0C. This is a high-summer crop with no cold tolerance at all.
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. Purslane are timed for direct sowing 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Wuwei.
The median frost-free season here is 172 days, against 40 to 55 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Wuwei
Other vegetables to time
Growing purslane in Wuwei
When should I plant purslane in Wuwei?
Aim for 8 May - 5 Jun in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 26 May - 23 Jun - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will purslane be ready to harvest in Wuwei?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jun - 30 Sep, based on 40 to 55 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will purslane tolerate?
Killed outright at 0C. This is a high-summer crop with no cold tolerance at all.