The example, calculated
Garlic · Spring 24
12 plants. First harvest: 24 + 4 = day 28. This planting has one harvest.
Spring 28
Latest start = 28 − growth days
Every season in this planner ends on day 28. To find a planting’s latest possible first harvest within that window, subtract the crop’s growth days from 28. For Garlic, the four-day wait makes Spring 24 the last starting day that produces a harvest in this model: 24 plus 4 equals 28.
Day 28 counts as a valid harvest day. The boundary is inclusive, so a crop that becomes ready exactly then still appears in the plan. Enter Spring 25 for Garlic and the first date becomes 29. That plan has no harvest within Spring. Increasing the number of plants does not change the arithmetic or recover the missing day.
What the cutoff includes
A final-day harvest is a tight schedule. It leaves no room within the selected season for a slower start than the model assumes. If the date matters to your own plans, choose an earlier planting day and inspect the result again. The calculator can show the ideal dates; it cannot check whether you actually watered the field each day.
For a regrowing crop, the same subtraction finds the last start for a first harvest, not a season full of repeats. A crop may fit one late harvest while leaving no room for the next interval. Always read the actual date list instead of assuming that the word “regrowth” guarantees multiple harvests before day 28.
Outside-window is a calculation status
An outside-window result says that this planting produces no calculated harvest on or before day 28 of the selected season. It does not establish what happens to the plant after that date. In particular, a crop listed for several seasons should not be described as dying merely because this one-season calculation stops.
Use the season filter to check where the crop is listed, and keep the next season as a separate question. This planner does not carry the planted bed, its growth progress or its regrowth clock across the boundary. That limit keeps the result clear: it answers whether the chosen start fits the season you are looking at.