Chinese artichoke · Formosa, Formosa, Argentina
When to plant chinese artichokes in Formosa
Main outdoor window
25 Jul - 15 Aug
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
25 July
In Formosa, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
31 Mar - 30 Jun
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 Formosa
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 tubers
25 Jul - 15 Aug
Around your last frost.
Harvest
31 Mar - 30 Jun
Chinese artichokes through the year
Against the frost risk in Formosa
Why these dates
Plant tubers around the last frost date and leave undisturbed all season. Lift after the top growth has died back in late autumn, and expect to miss a few.
Tubers are hardy to about -8C in the ground and are best left there and dug as needed, since they shrivel quickly once lifted.
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. Chinese artichokes are timed with planting out 0 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Formosa.
The median frost-free season here is 338 days, against 180 to 210 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Nearby
Chinese artichokes in places close by
Also in Formosa
Other vegetables to time
Growing chinese artichokes in Formosa
When should I plant chinese artichokes in Formosa?
Aim for 25 Jul - 15 Aug in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 20 Aug - 10 Sep - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will chinese artichokes be ready to harvest in Formosa?
Expect to start picking around 31 Mar - 30 Jun, based on 180 to 210 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will chinese artichokes tolerate?
Tubers are hardy to about -8C in the ground and are best left there and dug as needed, since they shrivel quickly once lifted.