When to Plant Cabbage in Portsmouth, 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.

The first opportunity to plant cabbage in Portsmouth can be estimated by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Cabbage

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

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

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

The earliest that you can plant cabbage in Portsmouth 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 cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your cabbage may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cabbage indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Portsmouth the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Portsmouth and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Portsmouth you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your cabbage in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Portsmouth

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 Low10°F
Highest Expected Low15°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 Portsmouth

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