When to Plant Cabbage in Zone 5a

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant cabbage is to refer to the USDA zone info for Zone 5a.


Planting Calendar for Cabbage

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

Cabbage do well in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant cabbage in Zone 5a is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your cabbage may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your cabbage indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Zone 5a. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Zone 5a is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 5a you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cabbage in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5a

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 Zone 5a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 5a.