When to Plant Lemon grass in Ocala, FL

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The USDA zone info for Ocala should be reviewed to determine when it's possible to plant lemon grass.


Planting Calendar for Lemon grass

Frost tolerance for lemon grass: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant lemon grass just a tiny bit earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant lemon grass
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant lemon grass
Probably not a good time to plant lemon grass

The earliest that you can plant lemon grass in Ocala 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 lemon grass and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lemon grass may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your lemon grass indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ocala the average date of last frost happens on February 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Ocala is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Ocala it frosts late in the year after February 15 be ready to protect your lemon grass in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ocala

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 Low20°F
Highest Expected Low25°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 Ocala

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