When to Plant Stocks in Creston, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

It's possible to determine when you can plant stocks by referring to the USDA zone info for Creston.


Planting Calendar for Stocks

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

Since stocks are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant stocks in Creston 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 stocks and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your stocks may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your stocks indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Creston. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Creston is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Creston it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your stocks if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Creston

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 Creston

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