Stevia · Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk, Russia
When to plant stevia in Magnitogorsk
Main outdoor window
2-23 Jun
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
19 May
In Magnitogorsk, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Jul - 30 Sep
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 Magnitogorsk
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.
Start indoors
24 Mar - 14 Apr
Eight weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Plant out
2-23 Jun
Two weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
1 Jul - 30 Sep
Stevia through the year
Against the frost risk in Magnitogorsk
Why these dates
Start indoors 8 weeks before the last frost and plant out well after it - stevia sulks in cold soil. Cuttings are more reliable than the seed, which germinates erratically.
Killed at 0C. Overwinters only where frost-free, or as a container plant brought inside.
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. Stevia are timed from 8 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Magnitogorsk.
Magnitogorsk sits in zone 4a, which is colder than this crop is rated for, so it will need winter protection or a container that can be moved under cover. The dates below still describe the right time of year; the open question is survival rather than timing.
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 stevia in Magnitogorsk
When should I plant stevia in Magnitogorsk?
Aim for 2-23 Jun in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 14 Jun - 5 Jul - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will stevia be ready to harvest in Magnitogorsk?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jul - 30 Sep, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will stevia tolerate?
Killed at 0C. Overwinters only where frost-free, or as a container plant brought inside.