When to Plant Kale in Darby, PA

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

You can estimate when it's the best time to plant kale in Darby by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Since kale are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather 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 kale
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant kale
Probably not a good time to plant kale

The earliest that you can plant kale in Darby 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. Any later than that and your kale may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your kale indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Darby the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Darby is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Darby you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your kale if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Darby

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Darby

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