One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant turnips is to check out the USDA zone info for Carmel.

Planting Calendar for Turnips

Frost tolerance for turnips:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant turnips until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant turnips in Carmel 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. Any later than that and your turnips may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your turnips indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Carmel and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Carmel you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your turnips if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Carmel

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 Carmel

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