Grain · Amaranthaceae
When to plant quinoa
An Andean crop that tolerates drought, poor soil and light frost, but sets seed badly in prolonged heat above about 32C.
Sow direct
1 week before
Counted from your last spring frost.
Days to maturity
110-140
From sowing to a first picking.
Frost tolerance
Half hardy
How much cold the plant itself will take.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Seed packets rarely give calendar dates, because a date that suits one latitude is wrong at another. They give offsets from the last spring frost instead, and those offsets are what make quinoa plantable anywhere.
- Sow direct 1 week before the last frost.
- Expect 110–140 days to maturity, counted from sowing.
Getting the timing right
Sow direct around the last frost date. Quinoa needs a long season but dislikes hot nights during flowering, which makes a cool upland summer ideal and a hot humid one poor.
Frost tolerance
Young plants tolerate about -3C, and the mature crop takes light frost while drying down, which is useful at the end of a short season.
Classified as half-hardy, with damage expected below -3°C (26.6°F)26.6°F (-3°C).