Mustard greens · Zhu Cheng City, Shandong, China
When to plant mustard greens in Zhu Cheng City
Main outdoor window
10 Mar - 7 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
31 March
In Zhu Cheng City, 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 Zhu Cheng City
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
9-30 Aug
Counting back 74 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
10 Mar - 7 Apr
Three weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
1 May - 30 Nov
Mustard greens through the year
Against the frost risk in Zhu Cheng City
Why these dates
Sow from three weeks before the last frost for spring greens, then again ten weeks before the first autumn frost for the milder, larger autumn crop.
Takes about -6C. A frost before picking noticeably softens the heat, which is why autumn mustard is the sweeter crop.
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. Mustard greens are timed for direct sowing 3 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Zhu Cheng City.
The median frost-free season here is 226 days, against 40 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 Zhu Cheng City
Other vegetables to time
Growing mustard greens in Zhu Cheng City
When should I plant mustard greens in Zhu Cheng City?
Aim for 10 Mar - 7 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 21 Mar - 18 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will mustard greens be ready to harvest in Zhu Cheng City?
Expect to start picking around 1 May - 30 Nov, based on 40 to 60 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will mustard greens tolerate?
Takes about -6C. A frost before picking noticeably softens the heat, which is why autumn mustard is the sweeter crop.