One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant napa cabbage in Smithfield can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Napa cabbage

Frost tolerance for napa cabbage:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since napa cabbage are very cold tolerant you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant napa cabbage in Smithfield 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 napa cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your napa cabbage may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your napa cabbage indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Smithfield. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Smithfield is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Smithfield there is a last frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your napa cabbage if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Smithfield

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 Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 Smithfield

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