When to Plant Chard in Belgrade, MT

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.

The USDA zone info for Belgrade should be read to figure out when it's the best time to plant chard.


Planting Calendar for Chard

Frost tolerance for chard: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Chard are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant chard in Belgrade 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 chard and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your chard may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your chard indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Belgrade. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Belgrade and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Belgrade it frosts late in the year after May 15 be ready to cover your chard if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Belgrade

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-30°F
Highest Expected Low-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Belgrade

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