Swede · Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
When to plant swedes in Shimla
Main outdoor window
21 Mar - 11 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
10 January
In Shimla, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
19 Jun - 19 Jul
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 Shimla
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
21 Mar - 11 Apr
Ten weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
19 Jun - 19 Jul
Swedes through the year
Against the frost risk in Shimla
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 Shimla.
The median frost-free season here is 351 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 Shimla
Other vegetables to time
Growing swedes in Shimla
When should I plant swedes in Shimla?
Aim for 21 Mar - 11 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 21 Mar - 11 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will swedes be ready to harvest in Shimla?
Expect to start picking around 19 Jun - 19 Jul, 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.