When to Plant Broccoli in Norwalk, IA

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

The USDA zone info for Norwalk should be looked at to determine when it's possible to plant broccoli.


Planting Calendar for Broccoli

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

Since broccoli do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant broccoli in Norwalk 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 broccoli and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your broccoli may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your broccoli indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Norwalk is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Norwalk there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your broccoli in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Norwalk

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 Norwalk

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