Salsify · Chengdu, Sichuan, China
When to plant salsify in Chengdu
Main outdoor window
31 Jan - 21 Feb
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
14 February
In Chengdu, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
31 May - 30 Jun
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 Chengdu
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
31 Jan - 21 Feb
Two weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
31 May - 30 Jun
Salsify through the year
Against the frost risk in Chengdu
Why these dates
Sow direct two weeks before the last frost. Do not transplant - the taproot forks if disturbed and becomes unusable.
Very hardy, to -15C, and left in the ground over winter to be lifted as required.
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. Salsify are timed for direct sowing 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Chengdu.
The median frost-free season here is 300 days, against 120 to 150 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Chengdu
Other vegetables to time
Growing salsify in Chengdu
When should I plant salsify in Chengdu?
Aim for 31 Jan - 21 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 20 Feb - 13 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will salsify be ready to harvest in Chengdu?
Expect to start picking around 31 May - 30 Jun, based on 120 to 150 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will salsify tolerate?
Very hardy, to -15C, and left in the ground over winter to be lifted as required.