One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when to plant pearl onions by using the USDA zone info for East Alton.

Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

Frost tolerance for pearl onions:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Pearl onions do ok in mild cold which means that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant pearl onions in East Alton is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your pearl onions may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your pearl onions indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in East Alton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for East Alton and it is different every year. Half of the time in East Alton last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your pearl onions in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for East Alton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in East Alton

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Alton.