Courgette · Zigong, Sichuan, China
When to plant courgettes in Zigong
Main outdoor window
17 Feb - 3 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
3 February
In Zigong, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
3-18 Apr
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 Zigong
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
13-27 Jan
Three weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
17 Feb - 3 Mar
Two weeks after your last frost.
Plant out
17 Feb - 3 Mar
Two weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
3-18 Apr
Courgettes through the year
Against the frost risk in Zigong
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 Zigong.
The median frost-free season here is 318 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 Zigong
Other vegetables to time
Growing courgettes in Zigong
When should I plant courgettes in Zigong?
Aim for 17 Feb - 3 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 7-21 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will courgettes be ready to harvest in Zigong?
Expect to start picking around 3-18 Apr, 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.