When to Plant Chinese cabbage in Rensselaer, IN

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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Rensselaer it's possible to figure out when it's the best time to plant chinese cabbage.


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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant chinese cabbage
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant chinese cabbage
Probably not a good time to plant chinese cabbage

The earliest that you can plant chinese cabbage in Rensselaer 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. If you wait any later than that and your chinese cabbage may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your chinese cabbage indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rensselaer. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rensselaer is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rensselaer you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your chinese cabbage in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rensselaer

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 Rensselaer

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