Courgette · Jinzhong, Shanxi, China
When to plant courgettes in Jinzhong
Main outdoor window
5-19 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
21 April
In Jinzhong, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
19 Jun - 4 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 Jinzhong
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
31 Mar - 14 Apr
Three weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
5-19 May
Two weeks after your last frost.
Plant out
5-19 May
Two weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
19 Jun - 4 Jul
Courgettes through the year
Against the frost risk in Jinzhong
Why these dates
Two plants feed most households. A single sowing two weeks after last frost is usually enough; a July sowing gives cleaner, mildew-free fruit in long-season climates.
One light frost ends the plant. Because it crops so quickly, a courgette sown after all frost risk has passed still produces for months.
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. Courgettes are timed from 3 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 Jinzhong.
The median frost-free season here is 180 days, against 45 to 60 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Jinzhong
Other vegetables to time
Growing courgettes in Jinzhong
When should I plant courgettes in Jinzhong?
Aim for 5-19 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 13-27 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will courgettes be ready to harvest in Jinzhong?
Expect to start picking around 19 Jun - 4 Jul, based on 45 to 60 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will courgettes tolerate?
One light frost ends the plant. Because it crops so quickly, a courgette sown after all frost risk has passed still produces for months.