Courgette · Xining, Qinghai, China
When to plant courgettes in Xining
Main outdoor window
31 May - 14 Jun
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
17 May
In Xining, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
15-30 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 Xining
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
26 Apr - 10 May
Three weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
31 May - 14 Jun
Two weeks after your last frost.
Plant out
31 May - 14 Jun
Two weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
15-30 Jul
Courgettes through the year
Against the frost risk in Xining
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 Xining.
The median frost-free season here is 139 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 Xining
Other vegetables to time
Growing courgettes in Xining
When should I plant courgettes in Xining?
Aim for 31 May - 14 Jun in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 7-21 Jun - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will courgettes be ready to harvest in Xining?
Expect to start picking around 15-30 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.