One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By using the USDA zone info for Cherokee you should be able to figure out when to plant mustard.

Planting Calendar for Mustard

Frost tolerance for mustard:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Mustard are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant mustard and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your mustard may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your mustard indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Cherokee. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Cherokee is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Cherokee you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your mustard if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cherokee

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 Cherokee

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