When to Plant Chinese cabbage in Watertown, SD

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when you can plant chinese cabbage is to examine the USDA zone info for Watertown.


Planting Calendar for Chinese cabbage

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

Since chinese cabbage do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant chinese cabbage in Watertown 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 chinese cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your chinese cabbage may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your chinese cabbage indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Watertown. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Watertown may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Watertown last frost occurs after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your chinese cabbage if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Watertown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-30°F
Highest Expected Low-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Watertown

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