When to Plant Onions in Harrisonburg, VA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant onions is to use the USDA zone info for Harrisonburg.


Planting Calendar for Onions

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

You can plant onions earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant onions in Harrisonburg 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 onions and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your onions may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your onions indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Harrisonburg. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Harrisonburg and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Harrisonburg last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your onions in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Harrisonburg

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Harrisonburg

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