When to Plant Mustard greens in Zone 5a

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

The USDA zone info for Zone 5a should be reffered to in order to figure out when it's a good idea to plant mustard greens.


Planting Calendar for Mustard greens

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

Mustard greens are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant mustard greens 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 mustard greens and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your mustard greens may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your mustard greens indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 5a and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 5a you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your mustard greens in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.