Shallot · Karaj, Alborz Province, Iran
When to plant shallots in Karaj
Main outdoor window
20 Mar - 10 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
1 May
In Karaj, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
18 Jun - 18 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 Karaj
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
20 Mar - 10 Apr
Six weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
18 Jun - 18 Jul
Shallots through the year
Against the frost risk in Karaj
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 Karaj.
The median frost-free season here is 179 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 Karaj
Other vegetables to time
Growing shallots in Karaj
When should I plant shallots in Karaj?
Aim for 20 Mar - 10 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 5-26 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will shallots be ready to harvest in Karaj?
Expect to start picking around 18 Jun - 18 Jul, 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.