When to Plant Watercress in Ayden, NC

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.

You can figure out when it's possible to plant watercress in Ayden by looking at 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.

You can plant watercress a bit earlier in the year because they do ok in moderate 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 Ayden 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 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your watercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Ayden. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Ayden is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ayden you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your watercress if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ayden

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)November 15
Lowest Expected Low10°F
Highest Expected Low15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Ayden

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