When to Plant Bunching Onions in Fairfield, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

In Fairfield you can estimate when it's the best time to plant bunching onions by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Bunching Onions

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

Bunching Onions tend to make it in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant bunching onions in Fairfield 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 bunching onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your bunching onions may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your bunching onions indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Fairfield may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Fairfield you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your bunching onions if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fairfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Fairfield

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