Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Altoona it's a good idea to figure out when it's a good idea to plant parsnip.

Planting Calendar for Parsnip

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

Parsnip do well in moderate cold which means that you can get them planted earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average 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 parsnip in the event of one of those late frosts.

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.