The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Rio Rancho you will be able to figure out when it's possible to plant kale.

Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Kale do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant kale in Rio Rancho 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 few weeks earlier by starting your kale indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Rio Rancho. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Rio Rancho is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Rio Rancho you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rio Rancho

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

Plants to Grow in Rio Rancho

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rio Rancho.