Vietnamese coriander · Chengdu, Sichuan, China
When to plant vietnamese coriander in Chengdu
Main outdoor window
28 Feb - 21 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
14 February
In Chengdu, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Jun - 31 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 Chengdu
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.
Plant out
28 Feb - 21 Mar
Two weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
1 Jun - 31 Oct
Vietnamese coriander through the year
Against the frost risk in Chengdu
Why these dates
Plant out after the last frost. Grows from cuttings in water within days; seed is rarely available and rarely needed.
No frost tolerance at all. Overwinter a cutting indoors rather than trying to protect the plant.
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. Vietnamese coriander are timed with planting out 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Chengdu.
Chengdu sits in zone 9b, which is colder than this crop is rated for, so it will need winter protection or a container that can be moved under cover. The dates below still describe the right time of year; the open question is survival rather than timing.
Do not expect a crop in the first year. A plant set out now should give its first worthwhile pick around year 1, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Growing vietnamese coriander in Chengdu
When should I plant vietnamese coriander in Chengdu?
Aim for 28 Feb - 21 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 20 Mar - 10 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will vietnamese coriander be ready to harvest in Chengdu?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jun - 31 Oct, based on 60 to 80 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will vietnamese coriander tolerate?
No frost tolerance at all. Overwinter a cutting indoors rather than trying to protect the plant.