When to Plant Mustard in Waterloo, IA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant mustard in Waterloo should be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Mustard

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

Since mustard are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Waterloo. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Waterloo and it is different every year. Half of the time in Waterloo last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your mustard if you have a surprise late frost.

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.