One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Waco you can estimate when to plant kale by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Kale

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

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

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

The last month that you can plant kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your kale may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your kale indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Waco is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Waco you get a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Waco

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Waco

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