Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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.

The USDA zone info for Baton Rouge should be used to figure out when it's possible to plant kale.

Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Kale do ok in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Baton Rouge 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 kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your kale may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Baton Rouge. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Baton Rouge is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Baton Rouge it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your kale if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Baton Rouge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Baton Rouge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Baton Rouge.