Shallot · Chengdu, Sichuan, China
When to plant shallots in Chengdu
Main outdoor window
3-24 Jan
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
14 February
In Chengdu, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
3 Apr - 3 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 Chengdu
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
8-29 Jul
Counting back 134 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
3-24 Jan
Six weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
3 Apr - 3 May
Shallots through the year
Against the frost risk in Chengdu
Why these dates
Plant sets six weeks before the last frost, or in autumn in mild-winter regions for an earlier and larger crop. Push them in rather than burying them - the tip should be just visible.
Sets and young growth take -12C easily. Autumn-planted shallots overwinter through most temperate climates without protection.
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. Shallots are timed for direct sowing 6 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Chengdu.
The median frost-free season here is 300 days, against 90 to 120 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Chengdu
Other vegetables to time
Growing shallots in Chengdu
When should I plant shallots in Chengdu?
Aim for 3-24 Jan in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 23 Jan - 13 Feb - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will shallots be ready to harvest in Chengdu?
Expect to start picking around 3 Apr - 3 May, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will shallots tolerate?
Sets and young growth take -12C easily. Autumn-planted shallots overwinter through most temperate climates without protection.