When to Plant Onions in Rolla, MO

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Rolla it's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant onions.


Planting Calendar for Onions

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

Onions tend to make it in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant onions in Rolla 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 onions and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your onions may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your onions indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Rolla. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rolla is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Rolla it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your onions in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rolla

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Rolla

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