One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

It's possible to figure out when it's possible to plant string beans by referring to the USDA zone info for Altoona.

Planting Calendar for String beans

Frost tolerance for string beans:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since string beans do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant string beans 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 string beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your string beans may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your string beans indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Altoona is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Altoona it frosts late in the year after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your string beans if you have 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.