When to Plant Spinach in Altoona, PA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine 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.

It's possible to figure out when it's a good idea to plant spinach by checking out the USDA zone info for Altoona.


Planting Calendar for Spinach

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

Spinach can survive in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Altoona. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Altoona may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Altoona you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your spinach in the event of a surprise 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.