One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant beets is to look at the USDA zone info for Grinnell.

Planting Calendar for Beets

Frost tolerance for beets:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant beets a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant beets in Grinnell is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant beets and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your beets may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your beets indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Grinnell. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Grinnell is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Grinnell it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your beets if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Grinnell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Grinnell

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Grinnell.