Winter wheat · Baoding, Hebei, China
When to plant winter wheat in Baoding
Main outdoor window
26 Sep - 10 Oct
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
1 April
In Baoding, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Jul - 31 Aug
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 Baoding
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.
Drill or broadcast the seed
26 Sep - 10 Oct
Four to six weeks before your first frost, so roots form before the ground cools.
Harvest
1 Jul - 31 Aug
Winter wheat through the year
Against the frost risk in Baoding
Why these dates
Sow six to eight weeks before the first autumn frost, so the plant reaches three or four leaves before growth stops. Sown too early it grows soft and is prone to disease; too late and it goes into winter without enough root to survive it.
Survives to around -20C under snow, considerably less without it. Vernalisation is a requirement rather than a hazard: without a real winter it stays leafy and never flowers.
Winter wheat are anchored to the first autumn frost rather than the last spring one, so the planting window on this page counts backwards from the end of the season in Baoding instead of forwards from its start.
This is a two-season crop, so the dates above describe a sowing in one year and a harvest in the next. The plant spends the winter in the ground as a small rosette, which is why the frost-free season in Baoding does not limit it the way it would limit a tomato: it is not trying to finish before the cold arrives, it is trying to be well enough rooted to sit through it. Sowing too late is the real risk, because a plant that goes into winter undersized often fails to flower at all the following year.
Growing winter wheat in Baoding
When should I plant winter wheat in Baoding?
Aim for 26 Sep - 10 Oct in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 13-27 Sep - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will winter wheat be ready to harvest in Baoding?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jul - 31 Aug, based on 240 to 300 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will winter wheat tolerate?
Survives to around -20C under snow, considerably less without it. Vernalisation is a requirement rather than a hazard: without a real winter it stays leafy and never flowers.