When to Plant Kale in Carrboro, NC

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when you can plant kale is to examine the USDA zone info for Carrboro.

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Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Kale are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can plant them earlier than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant kale in Carrboro 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 kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your kale may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Carrboro 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 Carrboro is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Carrboro last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your kale if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Carrboro

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low5°F
Highest Expected Low10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Carrboro

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