One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

In Grimes you can figure out when it's the best time to plant chinese cabbage by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chinese cabbage

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

Chinese cabbage tend to make it in moderate cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chinese cabbage in Grimes 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 cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chinese cabbage may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your chinese cabbage indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Grimes the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Grimes may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Grimes there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your chinese cabbage if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Grimes

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 Grimes

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