Mibuna · Meishan, Sichuan, China
When to plant mibuna in Meishan
Main outdoor window
8 Jan - 5 Feb
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
5 February
In Meishan, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 May - 30 Nov
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 Meishan
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 overwintering
22 Sep - 13 Oct
Counting back 64 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
8 Jan - 5 Feb
Four weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
1 May - 30 Nov
Mibuna through the year
Against the frost risk in Meishan
Why these dates
Sow alongside mizuna from four weeks before the last frost. It stands longer before bolting, so it suits the sowings that get left unpicked.
Hardy to roughly -8C. Frost tightens the flavour rather than damaging the leaf.
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. Mibuna are timed for direct sowing 4 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Meishan.
The median frost-free season here is 314 days, against 40 to 50 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Meishan
Other vegetables to time
Growing mibuna in Meishan
When should I plant mibuna in Meishan?
Aim for 8 Jan - 5 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 23 Jan - 20 Feb - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will mibuna be ready to harvest in Meishan?
Expect to start picking around 1 May - 30 Nov, based on 40 to 50 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will mibuna tolerate?
Hardy to roughly -8C. Frost tightens the flavour rather than damaging the leaf.