Wasabi · Weifang, Shandong, China
When to plant wasabi in Weifang
Main outdoor window
12 Nov - 18 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
1 April
In Weifang, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Sep - 30 Nov
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 Weifang
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 divisions
12 Nov - 18 Mar
Any time the plant is dormant and the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged: after leaf fall in autumn, or at the end of winter before growth restarts.
Harvest
1 Sep - 30 Nov
Wasabi through the year
Against the frost risk in Weifang
Why these dates
Plant divisions in early autumn or early spring into permanently damp shade. The rhizome is ready after about two years, and offsets taken at harvest start the next crop.
Hardy to about -6C but happiest between 8C and 20C all year. A hot summer does more damage than a cold winter.
Wasabi are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. What matters in Weifang is the shape of the year: this crop is dormant through the winter and is planted while it sleeps, any time between leaf fall in autumn and the restart of growth in spring, so long as the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged. That is why the window below spans the cold months rather than sitting in the middle of the growing season.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Weifang is zone 7b, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.
Do not expect a crop in the first year. A plant set out now should give its first worthwhile pick around year 2, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Also in Weifang
Other vegetables to time
Growing wasabi in Weifang
When should I plant wasabi in Weifang?
Aim for 12 Nov - 18 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 31 Oct - 28 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will wasabi be ready to harvest in Weifang?
Expect to start picking around 1 Sep - 30 Nov, based on 540 to 730 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will wasabi tolerate?
Hardy to about -6C but happiest between 8C and 20C all year. A hot summer does more damage than a cold winter.