When to Plant Endive in Lancaster, PA

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Lancaster it's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant endive.


Planting Calendar for Endive

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

Endive can survive in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

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

Last Frost Date

In Lancaster the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Lancaster is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Lancaster you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your endive in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lancaster

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

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

Plants to Grow in Lancaster

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