One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

You can estimate when you can plant onions in Potsdam by reviewing 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.

Onions are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant onions in Potsdam 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 onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your onions may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your onions indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Potsdam the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Potsdam and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Potsdam there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to cover your onions if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Potsdam

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Potsdam

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