One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your 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.

You can estimate when it's a good idea to plant chinese cabbage in East Chicago by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Chinese cabbage

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

Chinese cabbage do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant chinese cabbage in East Chicago 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 chinese cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chinese cabbage may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your chinese cabbage indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in East Chicago. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for East Chicago may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in East Chicago it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your chinese cabbage if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for East Chicago

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 East Chicago

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