Daikon · Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
When to plant daikon in Shimla
Main outdoor window
7-21 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
10 January
In Shimla, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
6-26 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 Shimla
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.
Sow for autumn
3-24 Sep
Counting back 94 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
7-21 Mar
Eight weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
6-26 May
Daikon through the year
Against the frost risk in Shimla
Why these dates
Sow direct eight to ten weeks after the last frost, or better, ten weeks before the first autumn frost. Spring sowings almost always bolt.
Stands to about -8C. In mild climates it holds in the ground all winter.
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. Daikon are timed for direct sowing 8 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Shimla.
The median frost-free season here is 351 days, against 60 to 80 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Shimla
Other vegetables to time
Growing daikon in Shimla
When should I plant daikon in Shimla?
Aim for 7-21 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 daikon be ready to harvest in Shimla?
Expect to start picking around 6-26 May, based on 60 to 80 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will daikon tolerate?
Stands to about -8C. In mild climates it holds in the ground all winter.