When to plant winter wheat in Dombivali

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 Dombivali 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 Dombivali 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.

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