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When to Plant Jerusalem artichokes in Zone 4a

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 determine when you can plant jerusalem artichokes by checking out the USDA zone info for Zone 4a.


Planting Calendar for Jerusalem artichokes

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

Jerusalem artichokes are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant jerusalem artichokes in Zone 4a 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 jerusalem artichokes and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your jerusalem artichokes may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your jerusalem artichokes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 4a the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 4a is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 4a last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your jerusalem artichokes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 4a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-30°F
Highest Expected Low-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 4a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 4a.