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

A way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant pearl onions is to use the USDA zone info for Odessa.

Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

Frost tolerance for pearl onions:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant pearl onions slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant pearl onions in Odessa 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 pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pearl onions may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your pearl onions indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Odessa the average date of last frost happens on March 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Odessa and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Odessa there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to cover your pearl onions in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Odessa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Odessa

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