When to Plant Radishes in Zone 5a

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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.

It's possible to estimate when to plant radishes by looking at the USDA zone info for Zone 5a.


Planting Calendar for Radishes

Frost tolerance for radishes: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since radishes are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them much earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant radishes 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 radishes and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your radishes may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your radishes indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Zone 5a. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Zone 5a is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 5a last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your radishes 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.