When to Plant Kale in Mountainside, NJ

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.

In Mountainside you can determine when it's the best time to plant kale by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Kale

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

You can plant kale a little bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

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 Mountainside 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your kale may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Mountainside. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mountainside is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Mountainside you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mountainside

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 Mountainside

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