Swede · Brussels, Brussels Capital, Belgium
When to plant swedes in Brussels
Main outdoor window
22 Jun - 13 Jul
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
13 April
In Brussels, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
20 Sep - 20 Oct
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 Brussels
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
22 Jun - 13 Jul
Ten weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
20 Sep - 20 Oct
Swedes through the year
Against the frost risk in Brussels
Why these dates
Sow direct about ten weeks after the last frost, aiming to mature into cool autumn weather. Thin ruthlessly - crowded swedes stay small.
Very hardy, taking -10C in the ground, and sweeter after frost. Can be left in the soil and lifted through winter in most climates.
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. Swedes are timed for direct sowing 10 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Brussels.
The median frost-free season here is 216 days, against 90 to 120 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Brussels
Other vegetables to time
Growing swedes in Brussels
When should I plant swedes in Brussels?
Aim for 22 Jun - 13 Jul in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 2-23 Jul - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will swedes be ready to harvest in Brussels?
Expect to start picking around 20 Sep - 20 Oct, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will swedes tolerate?
Very hardy, taking -10C in the ground, and sweeter after frost. Can be left in the soil and lifted through winter in most climates.