When to Plant Welsh onion in Zone 5a

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant welsh onion in Zone 5a can be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Welsh onion

Frost tolerance for welsh onion: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since welsh onion are barely cold tolerant you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant welsh onion in Zone 5a 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 welsh onion and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your welsh onion may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your welsh onion indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 5a the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 5a is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 5a you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your welsh onion if you have 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.