When to Plant Parsnip in Reading, PA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to estimate when it's the best time to plant parsnip by referring to the USDA zone info for Reading.


Planting Calendar for Parsnip

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

You can plant parsnip just a bit earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant parsnip in Reading 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 parsnip and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your parsnip may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your parsnip indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Reading the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Reading is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Reading you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your parsnip if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Reading

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 Reading

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