When to Plant Red cabbage in Spirit Lake, IA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Spirit Lake it's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant red cabbage.


Planting Calendar for Red cabbage

Frost tolerance for red cabbage: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Red cabbage are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

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

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

Last Frost Date

In Spirit Lake 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.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Spirit Lake and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Spirit Lake you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your red cabbage if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Spirit Lake

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 Spirit Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Spirit Lake.