One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

In Sussex you can figure out when to plant banana by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Banana

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

You really shouldn't plant banana until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant banana in Sussex 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 banana and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your banana may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your banana indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Sussex. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sussex is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Sussex it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your banana in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sussex

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 Sussex

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