When to Plant Kale in Ellwood City, PA

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The USDA zone info for Ellwood City can be used to figure out when to plant kale.


Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Kale do ok in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them just 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 Ellwood City 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your kale may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your kale indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Ellwood City is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Ellwood City there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your kale if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ellwood City

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 Ellwood City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Ellwood City.