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.

You can determine when it's possible to plant mustard in Altoona by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Mustard

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

It's a bad idea to plant mustard until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

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

The last month that you can plant mustard and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your mustard may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your mustard indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Altoona. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Altoona and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Altoona you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your mustard in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Altoona

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Altoona

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