When to Plant Watercress in Palmerton, PA

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when you can plant watercress by checking out the USDA zone info for Palmerton.


Planting Calendar for Watercress

Frost tolerance for watercress: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since watercress are barely cold tolerant you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Palmerton is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant watercress and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your watercress may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your watercress indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Palmerton. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Palmerton may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Palmerton there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your watercress in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Palmerton

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 Palmerton

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