When to Plant Watercress in Marquette, MI

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Marquette should be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Watercress

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

Since watercress are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Marquette 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 watercress and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your watercress may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your watercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Marquette. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Marquette is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Marquette last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your watercress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Marquette

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 Marquette

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