Swede · Chuxiong, Yunnan, China
When to plant swedes in Chuxiong
Main outdoor window
6-27 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
26 January
In Chuxiong, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
5 Jul - 4 Aug
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 Chuxiong
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
6-27 Apr
Ten weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
5 Jul - 4 Aug
Swedes through the year
Against the frost risk in Chuxiong
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 Chuxiong.
The median frost-free season here is 326 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 Chuxiong
Other vegetables to time
Growing swedes in Chuxiong
When should I plant swedes in Chuxiong?
Aim for 6-27 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 18 Apr - 9 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will swedes be ready to harvest in Chuxiong?
Expect to start picking around 5 Jul - 4 Aug, 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.