Swede · Zigong, Sichuan, China
When to plant swedes in Zigong
Main outdoor window
14 Apr - 5 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
3 February
In Zigong, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
13 Jul - 12 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 Zigong
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
14 Apr - 5 May
Ten weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
13 Jul - 12 Aug
Swedes through the year
Against the frost risk in Zigong
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 Zigong.
The median frost-free season here is 318 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 Zigong
Other vegetables to time
Growing swedes in Zigong
When should I plant swedes in Zigong?
Aim for 14 Apr - 5 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 2-23 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will swedes be ready to harvest in Zigong?
Expect to start picking around 13 Jul - 12 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.