One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 Tuscola should be used to determine when it's the best time to plant turnips.

Planting Calendar for Turnips

Frost tolerance for turnips:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You should not plant turnips until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant turnips in Tuscola 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 turnips and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your turnips may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your turnips indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Tuscola. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Tuscola is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Tuscola it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your turnips if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Tuscola

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 Tuscola

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