Shiso · Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
When to plant shiso in Hangzhou
Main outdoor window
18 Mar - 8 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
11 March
In Hangzhou, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
3-23 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 Hangzhou
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.
Start indoors
28 Jan - 18 Feb
Six weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
18 Mar - 8 Apr
One week after your last frost.
Plant out
25 Mar - 15 Apr
Two weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
3-23 Jun
Shiso through the year
Against the frost risk in Hangzhou
Why these dates
Killed by the first frost, like basil.
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. Shiso are timed from 6 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Hangzhou.
The median frost-free season here is 262 days, against 70 to 90 days to maturity for this crop counted from planting out. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Growing shiso in Hangzhou
When should I plant shiso in Hangzhou?
Aim for 18 Mar - 8 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 29 Mar - 19 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will shiso be ready to harvest in Hangzhou?
Expect to start picking around 3-23 Jun, based on 70 to 90 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will shiso tolerate?
Killed by the first frost, like basil.