When to plant skirret in Shijie

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 Shijie 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.

Shijie sits in zone 10a, which is milder than this crop wants, and a winter that never really arrives is its own problem. 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.

See every crop timed for Shijie →