When to Plant Kohlrabi in Waterloo, IA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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.

The USDA zone info for Waterloo should be reffered to in order to figure out when it's possible to plant kohlrabi.


Planting Calendar for Kohlrabi

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

Kohlrabi tend to make it in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant kohlrabi in Waterloo 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. Starting your kohlrabi indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Waterloo. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Waterloo is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Waterloo you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your kohlrabi in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Waterloo

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 Waterloo

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