One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Gainesville you can figure out when it's the best time to plant turnips by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Turnips

Frost tolerance for turnips:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You can not plant turnips until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

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

Last Frost Date

In Gainesville the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Gainesville and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Gainesville it frosts late in the year after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your turnips in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gainesville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Gainesville

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