Zinnia · Ludhiana, Punjab, India
When to sow zinnias in Ludhiana
Main outdoor window
15-29 Jan
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
8 January
In Ludhiana, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
16 Mar - 5 Apr
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 Ludhiana
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
11-25 Dec
Four weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
15-29 Jan
One week after your last frost.
Plant out
15-29 Jan
One week after your last frost.
In flower
16 Mar - 5 Apr
Zinnias through the year
Against the frost risk in Ludhiana
Why these dates
Direct sowing after last frost usually beats transplanting - zinnias dislike root disturbance and catch up quickly.
Killed by the first frost at either end of the season. Strictly a warm-season flower.
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. Zinnias are timed from 4 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 1 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Ludhiana.
Also in Ludhiana
Other flowers to time
Growing zinnias in Ludhiana
When should I plant zinnias in Ludhiana?
Aim for 15-29 Jan in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 30 Jan - 13 Feb - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will zinnias be ready to harvest in Ludhiana?
Expect to start picking around 16 Mar - 5 Apr, based on 60 to 80 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will zinnias tolerate?
Killed by the first frost at either end of the season. Strictly a warm-season flower.