When to Plant Onions in Somerville, NJ

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Somerville you can determine when it's a good idea to plant onions by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Onions

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

Since onions are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant onions in Somerville 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 onions and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your onions may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your onions indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Somerville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Somerville is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Somerville last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your onions if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Somerville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Somerville

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