One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Waterville you can estimate when it's possible to plant neeps by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Neeps

Frost tolerance for neeps:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant neeps until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The last month that you can plant neeps and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your neeps may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your neeps indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Waterville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Waterville and it is different every year. Half of the time in Waterville it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your neeps in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Waterville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Waterville

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