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.

A common way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant watercress is to look at the USDA zone info for Ponchatoula.

Planting Calendar for Watercress

Frost tolerance for watercress:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

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

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Ponchatoula is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant watercress and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your watercress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your watercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Ponchatoula. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ponchatoula may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ponchatoula it frosts late in the year after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your watercress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ponchatoula

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 Ponchatoula

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