When to Plant Watercress in Cranston, RI

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Cranston you can determine when it's possible to plant watercress by referring to the USDA zone info.


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 one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather 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 Cranston 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. Starting your watercress indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Cranston. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Cranston is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Cranston last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your watercress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cranston

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 Cranston

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