Watercress · Wuhan, Hubei, China
When to plant watercress in Wuhan
Main outdoor window
7 Dec - 7 Feb
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
21 February
In Wuhan, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Apr - 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 Wuhan
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 or sow
7 Dec - 7 Feb
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 Apr - 31 Oct
Watercress through the year
Against the frost risk in Wuhan
Why these dates
Plant or sow in spring once the water has warmed, and pick from late spring onwards. Left alone it flowers in midsummer and the leaf turns bitter, so cut hard to keep it vegetative.
Hardy to about -6C. The crown survives cold happily as long as it does not freeze solid, which is what makes running water the traditional site.
Watercress are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. What matters in Wuhan 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. Wuhan is zone 9a, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.
Also in Wuhan
Other vegetables to time
Growing watercress in Wuhan
When should I plant watercress in Wuhan?
Aim for 7 Dec - 7 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 23 Nov - 24 Feb - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will watercress be ready to harvest in Wuhan?
Expect to start picking around 1 Apr - 31 Oct, based on 50 to 60 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will watercress tolerate?
Hardy to about -6C. The crown survives cold happily as long as it does not freeze solid, which is what makes running water the traditional site.