One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when to plant leeks is to refer to the USDA zone info for Dayton.

Planting Calendar for Leeks

Frost tolerance for leeks:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Leeks can survive in a bit of cold which means that you can plant them much earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant leeks in Dayton is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant leeks and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your leeks may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your leeks indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Dayton the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Dayton is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Dayton you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your leeks if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Dayton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Dayton

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