When to Plant Carrots in Altoona, PA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. 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 figuring out when it's possible to plant carrots is to consult the USDA zone info for Altoona.


Planting Calendar for Carrots

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

Carrots do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant carrots in Altoona 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 carrots and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your carrots may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your carrots indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Altoona. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Altoona is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Altoona there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your carrots in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Altoona

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 Altoona

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