Skirret · Nizhny Tagil, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia
When to plant skirret in Nizhny Tagil
Main outdoor window
22 Sep - 6 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
20 May
In Nizhny Tagil, 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 Nizhny Tagil
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
22 Sep - 6 May
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 Nizhny Tagil
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 Nizhny Tagil 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.
Nizhny Tagil sits in zone 3b, which is colder than this crop is rated for, so it will need winter protection or a container that can be moved under cover. The dates below still describe the right time of year; the open question is survival rather than timing.
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 Nizhny Tagil
Other vegetables to time
Growing skirret in Nizhny Tagil
When should I plant skirret in Nizhny Tagil?
Aim for 22 Sep - 6 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 10 Sep - 19 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will skirret be ready to harvest in Nizhny Tagil?
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.