One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

You can determine when it's a good idea to plant kohlrabi in Ottumwa by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Kohlrabi

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

Kohlrabi do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ottumwa is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Ottumwa last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your kohlrabi in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ottumwa

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 Ottumwa

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