Basil · Yan’an, Shaanxi, China
When to plant basil in Yan’an
Main outdoor window
3-17 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
19 April
In Yan’an, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
22 Jun - 12 Jul
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 Yan’an
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
22 Mar - 5 Apr
Four weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
3-17 May
Two weeks after your last frost.
Plant out
3-17 May
Two weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
22 Jun - 12 Jul
Basil through the year
Against the frost risk in Yan’an
Why these dates
Plant out two weeks after last frost, once nights are reliably above 12C. A second sowing in midsummer replaces plants that have gone to flower.
Damaged at 1C, before any actual frost forms. If your forecast shows 2C, basil should already be indoors.
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. Basil are timed from 4 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Yan’an.
The median frost-free season here is 181 days, against 50 to 70 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Growing basil in Yan’an
When should I plant basil in Yan’an?
Aim for 3-17 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 12-26 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will basil be ready to harvest in Yan’an?
Expect to start picking around 22 Jun - 12 Jul, based on 50 to 70 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will basil tolerate?
Damaged at 1C, before any actual frost forms. If your forecast shows 2C, basil should already be indoors.