When to Plant Onions in Shelbyville, KY

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's the best time to plant onions in Shelbyville by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Onions

Frost tolerance for onions: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant onions earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant onions in Shelbyville 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 onions and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your onions may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your onions indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Shelbyville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Shelbyville is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Shelbyville you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your onions in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Shelbyville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Shelbyville

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