When to Plant Kale in Watertown, SD

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

One way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant kale is to look at the USDA zone info for Watertown.


Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Kale are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant kale 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 kale and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your kale may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your kale indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Watertown. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Watertown and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Watertown there is a last frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.