Salsify · Xiaogan, Hubei, China
When to plant salsify in Xiaogan
Main outdoor window
19 Feb - 12 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
5 March
In Xiaogan, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
19 Jun - 19 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 Xiaogan
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 direct
19 Feb - 12 Mar
Two weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
19 Jun - 19 Jul
Salsify through the year
Against the frost risk in Xiaogan
Why these dates
Sow direct two weeks before the last frost. Do not transplant - the taproot forks if disturbed and becomes unusable.
Very hardy, to -15C, and left in the ground over winter to be lifted as required.
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. Salsify are timed for direct sowing 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Xiaogan.
The median frost-free season here is 270 days, against 120 to 150 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Xiaogan
Other vegetables to time
Growing salsify in Xiaogan
When should I plant salsify in Xiaogan?
Aim for 19 Feb - 12 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 4-25 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will salsify be ready to harvest in Xiaogan?
Expect to start picking around 19 Jun - 19 Jul, based on 120 to 150 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will salsify tolerate?
Very hardy, to -15C, and left in the ground over winter to be lifted as required.