Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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 banana in Salem can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Banana

Frost tolerance for banana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You really shouldn't plant banana until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant banana in Salem 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 banana and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your banana may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your banana indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Salem is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Salem you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your banana if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Salem

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 Low	0°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 Salem

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