Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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.

The USDA zone info for Portsmouth can be used to estimate when it's possible to plant chicory.

Planting Calendar for Chicory

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

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Portsmouth. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Portsmouth is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Portsmouth it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your chicory if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Portsmouth

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°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 -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Portsmouth

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