When to Plant Endive in Grand Rapids, MI

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. 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 estimating when to plant endive is to refer to the USDA zone info for Grand Rapids.


Planting Calendar for Endive

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

Since endive are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant endive in Grand Rapids 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 endive and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your endive may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your endive indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Grand Rapids. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Grand Rapids is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Grand Rapids you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your endive if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Grand Rapids

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 Grand Rapids

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