When to Plant Kale in Hagerstown, MD

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

One way of figuring out when you can plant kale is to refer to the USDA zone info for Hagerstown.


Planting Calendar for Kale

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

You can plant kale a little bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

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

The earliest that you can plant kale in Hagerstown 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 fully mature. Starting your kale 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 Hagerstown. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hagerstown and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Hagerstown it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your kale in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hagerstown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Hagerstown

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