Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of figuring out when you can plant beets is to consult the USDA zone info for Waterloo.

Planting Calendar for Beets

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

Beets are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant beets 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 beets and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your beets may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your beets indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Waterloo. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Waterloo is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Waterloo you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your beets in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Waterloo

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Waterloo

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