When to Plant Turnips in Newton, IA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant turnips in Newton can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Turnips

Frost tolerance for turnips: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

It's probably a bad idea to plant turnips until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

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

The earliest that you can plant turnips in Newton 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 turnips and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your turnips may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your turnips indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Newton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Newton and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Newton you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your turnips if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Newton

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 Newton

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