When to Plant Watercress in Winona, MN

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.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Winona should be figured out 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.

Watercress do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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 Winona 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 watercress and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your watercress may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your watercress indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Winona the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Winona is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Winona you get a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your watercress if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Winona

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 Winona

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