Skirret · Moscow, Moscow, Russia
When to plant skirret in Moscow
Main outdoor window
7 Oct - 18 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
2 May
In Moscow, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Oct - 31 Mar
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 Moscow
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.
Plant offsets
7 Oct - 18 Apr
Any time the plant is dormant and the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged: after leaf fall in autumn, or at the end of winter before growth restarts.
Harvest
1 Oct - 31 Mar
Skirret through the year
Against the frost risk in Moscow
Why these dates
Plant offsets in early spring while dormant. Lift from the second autumn onwards, keeping a few crowns each time to replant, so the patch renews itself indefinitely.
Hardy to -15C and below. Roots are dug through winter and are sweeter after they have been frozen in the ground.
Skirret are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. What matters in Moscow is the shape of the year: this crop is dormant through the winter and is planted while it sleeps, any time between leaf fall in autumn and the restart of growth in spring, so long as the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged. That is why the window below spans the cold months rather than sitting in the middle of the growing season.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Moscow is zone 4b, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.
Do not expect a crop in the first year. A plant set out now should give its first worthwhile pick around year 1, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Also in Moscow
Other vegetables to time
Growing skirret in Moscow
When should I plant skirret in Moscow?
Aim for 7 Oct - 18 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 23 Sep - 4 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will skirret be ready to harvest in Moscow?
Expect to start picking around 1 Oct - 31 Mar, based on 150 to 200 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will skirret tolerate?
Hardy to -15C and below. Roots are dug through winter and are sweeter after they have been frozen in the ground.