Brussels sprouts · Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
When to plant brussels sprouts in Guangzhou
Main outdoor window
10-31 Jan
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
10 January
In Guangzhou, 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 Guangzhou
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
28 Nov - 19 Dec
Six weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Plant out
10-31 Jan
Around your last frost.
Harvest
20 Apr - 20 May
Brussels sprouts through the year
Against the frost risk in Guangzhou
Why these dates
Sow in spring for a harvest that begins after the first autumn frosts. Rushing this crop to maturity in warm weather gives loose, bitter sprouts.
Improves after frost and stands through -12C. This is the clearest example of a crop where the first autumn frost is a target rather than a deadline.
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. Brussels sprouts are timed from 6 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 Guangzhou.
The median frost-free season here is 348 days, against 100 to 130 days to maturity for this crop counted from planting out. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Guangzhou
Other vegetables to time
Growing brussels sprouts in Guangzhou
When should I plant brussels sprouts in Guangzhou?
Aim for 10-31 Jan in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 31 Jan - 21 Feb - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will brussels sprouts be ready to harvest in Guangzhou?
Expect to start picking around 20 Apr - 20 May, based on 100 to 130 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will brussels sprouts tolerate?
Improves after frost and stands through -12C. This is the clearest example of a crop where the first autumn frost is a target rather than a deadline.