When to Plant Welsh onion in Smithfield, VA

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Smithfield it's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant welsh onion.


Planting Calendar for Welsh onion

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

Since welsh onion are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant welsh onion in Smithfield 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 welsh onion and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your welsh onion may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your welsh onion indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Smithfield. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Smithfield and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Smithfield it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to protect your welsh onion in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Smithfield

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 Smithfield

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