Fenugreek · Lüliang, Shanxi, China
When to plant fenugreek in Lüliang
Main outdoor window
26 Apr - 10 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
26 April
In Lüliang, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
26 May - 25 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 Lüliang
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
8-29 Jun
Counting back 104 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
26 Apr - 10 May
Around your last frost.
Harvest
26 May - 25 Jul
Fenugreek through the year
Against the frost risk in Lüliang
Why these dates
Sow direct at the last frost date and every three weeks after for leaves. For seed, sow once early enough to allow ninety days before the first frost.
Seedlings tolerate a light frost to about -3C; the seed crop needs a frost-free finish.
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. Fenugreek are timed for direct sowing 0 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Lüliang.
The median frost-free season here is 169 days, against 30 to 90 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Growing fenugreek in Lüliang
When should I plant fenugreek in Lüliang?
Aim for 26 Apr - 10 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 12-26 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will fenugreek be ready to harvest in Lüliang?
Expect to start picking around 26 May - 25 Jul, based on 30 to 90 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will fenugreek tolerate?
Seedlings tolerate a light frost to about -3C; the seed crop needs a frost-free finish.