Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant red cabbage in Ottawa can be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Red cabbage

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

You can plant red cabbage quite a bit earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant red cabbage in Ottawa 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 red cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your red cabbage may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your red cabbage indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Ottawa. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Ottawa is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ottawa you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your red cabbage in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

Plants to Grow in Ottawa

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