One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

The first opportunity to plant mustard in Columbus should be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Mustard

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

It's not a good idea to plant mustard 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 mustard in Columbus 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 mustard and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your mustard may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your mustard indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Columbus. You can expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Columbus is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbus last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your mustard if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbus

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbus

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