Sorrel · Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China
When to plant sorrel in Hohhot
Main outdoor window
13 Apr - 4 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
11 May
In Hohhot, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Apr - 31 Oct
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 Hohhot
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
13 Apr - 4 May
Four weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
1 Apr - 31 Oct
Sorrel through the year
Against the frost risk in Hohhot
Why these dates
Sow direct four weeks before the last frost, or in autumn. Cut the whole plant back in midsummer for a fresh flush of tender leaves.
Very hardy, to about -20C, and often the first green thing in the garden.
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. Sorrel are timed for direct sowing 4 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Hohhot.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Hohhot is zone 5a, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.
Do not expect a crop in the first year. A plant set out now should give its first worthwhile pick around year 1, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Growing sorrel in Hohhot
When should I plant sorrel in Hohhot?
Aim for 13 Apr - 4 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 23 Apr - 14 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will sorrel be ready to harvest in Hohhot?
Expect to start picking around 1 Apr - 31 Oct, based on 60 to 80 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will sorrel tolerate?
Very hardy, to about -20C, and often the first green thing in the garden.