Thyme · Longling County, Yunnan, China
When to plant thyme in Longling County
Main outdoor window
20 Jan - 10 Feb
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
20 January
In Longling County, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
20 Apr - 20 May
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 Longling County
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.
Start indoors
25 Nov - 16 Dec
Eight weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Plant
20 Jan - 10 Feb
Around your last frost.
Harvest
20 Apr - 20 May
Thyme through the year
Against the frost risk in Longling County
Why these dates
Very slow from seed and best started indoors well ahead of the season, or simply bought as a plant.
Survives -18C. As with oregano, waterlogged winter soil is the real threat.
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. Thyme are timed from 8 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 0 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Longling County.
Growing thyme in Longling County
When should I plant thyme in Longling County?
Aim for 20 Jan - 10 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 24 Jan - 14 Feb - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will thyme be ready to harvest in Longling County?
Expect to start picking around 20 Apr - 20 May, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will thyme tolerate?
Survives -18C. As with oregano, waterlogged winter soil is the real threat.