When to Plant Watercress in Emerson, NJ

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Emerson it's possible to estimate when it's possible to plant watercress.


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.

Watercress can survive in a tiny bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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 Emerson 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your watercress may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your watercress indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Emerson. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Emerson may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Emerson last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your watercress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Emerson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Emerson

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