When to Plant Pearl onions in Grand Ledge, MI

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Grand Ledge it's possible to estimate when it's possible to plant pearl onions.


Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

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

Since pearl onions are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Grand Ledge. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Grand Ledge is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Grand Ledge it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your pearl onions if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Grand Ledge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Grand Ledge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Grand Ledge.