One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Portsmouth can be looked at to figure out when it's a good idea to plant millet.

Planting Calendar for Millet

Frost tolerance for millet:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant millet until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant millet in Portsmouth is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant millet and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your millet may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your millet indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

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.

Since the USDA zone info for Portsmouth is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Portsmouth you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so always be ready to protect your millet 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 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 Portsmouth

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