One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 first chance to plant napa cabbage in Mankato should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Napa cabbage

Frost tolerance for napa cabbage:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Napa cabbage can survive in a bit of cold which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Mankato. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -25°F.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Mankato and it is different every year. Half of the time in Mankato it frosts late in the year after May 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your napa cabbage in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mankato

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Mankato

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