One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant watercress is to refer to the USDA zone info for Las Cruces.

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 some cold which means that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Las Cruces 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your watercress indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Las Cruces the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Las Cruces is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Las Cruces last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your watercress if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Las Cruces

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 Las Cruces

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Las Cruces.