When to Plant Watercress in Fond Du Lac, WI

One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when you can plant watercress by using the USDA zone info for Fond Du Lac.


Planting Calendar for Watercress

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

Since watercress do ok in moderate cold you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Fond Du Lac 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 watercress and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your watercress may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your watercress indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Fond Du Lac. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fond Du Lac is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Fond Du Lac there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your watercress if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fond Du Lac

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 Fond Du Lac

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fond Du Lac.