When to Plant Turnips in Chelsea, MI

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

The USDA zone info for Chelsea should be used to estimate when you can plant turnips.


Planting Calendar for Turnips

Frost tolerance for turnips: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Since turnips do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant turnips in Chelsea 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 turnips and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your turnips may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your turnips indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Chelsea. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Chelsea may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Chelsea last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your turnips if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chelsea

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 Chelsea

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