One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Fort Dodge you will be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant chinese chives.

Planting Calendar for Chinese chives

Frost tolerance for chinese chives:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant chinese chives a little earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant chinese chives in Fort Dodge 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 chinese chives and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your chinese chives may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your chinese chives indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Fort Dodge. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Fort Dodge and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Fort Dodge there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your chinese chives if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Dodge

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 Fort Dodge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Dodge.