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

A way of getting a good idea when it's a good idea to plant mustard is to check out the USDA zone info for Salem.

Planting Calendar for Mustard

Frost tolerance for mustard:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

Since mustard are not cold tolerant it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant mustard 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 mustard and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your mustard may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your mustard indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Salem the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Salem may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Salem last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your mustard 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.