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When to plant Mustard Greens

Computed from land-grant Extension planting-window rules (cited below), localized to real ZIP-level median frost dates, not a single national guess. These are national-generic rules by hardiness class; individual state Extension offices layer their own regional adjustment on top (earlier in the Deep South, later in the Upper Midwest). Enter your ZIP for your own dates, or read the four representative locations below.

Planting windows and crop timing here are computed from USDA/NOAA climate data and the university extension sources cited below, not a site visit or soil test. Treat this as a starting point: local conditions vary, and a local nursery or extension office can advise on your exact site. See our full Disclaimer.

Representative timing, by climate band

When to plant Mustard Greens in four US climates

Each column is the most nursery-dense location in our directory within that USDA zone band, computed from that location's own real median frost dates, not a made-up example.

Stage Zones 1-5 (cold winters)
Fort Plain, NY 		Zones 6-7 (temperate)
McMinnville, TN 		Zones 8-9 (warm)
Apopka, FL 		Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent)
Loxahatchee, FL
Start seed indoors Not available Not available Not available –
Direct-sow outside Apr 8–Apr 22 Mar 10–Mar 24 Jan 27–Feb 10 –
Transplant outside Not available Not available Not available –
Fall planting Aug 11–Sep 8 Sep 4–Oct 2 Nov 3–Dec 1 –
Expected harvest May 3–Jun 11 Apr 4–May 13 Feb 21–Apr 1 –

Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent) (Loxahatchee, FL): Frost is rare here (about 359 frost-free days a year); most years see little or no hard freeze. This is a semi hardy crop. In climates like this one, hardy and semi-hardy crops typically go in during the cooler months (fall through late winter), not on a frost-relative schedule.

Mustard greens go into the ground two to four weeks before your last frost. That figure comes from Purdue Extension's Indiana Vegetable Planting Calendar (HO-186-W), which lists mustard in both its hardy and semi-hardy sections, an inconsistency inside Purdue's own table rather than a disagreement between two publications. This page uses Purdue's semi-hardy numeric window, since it matches Clemson Cooperative Extension's description of mustard as frost-tolerant but possibly damaged by a hard freeze (HGIC 1320), semi-hardy behavior rather than fully hardy.

Days to maturity run 25 to 50, combining Clemson's 25-to-50-day figure with NC State Extension's 30 to 40. No minimum soil temperature is held for mustard greens in any source checked.

Mustard also takes a fall planting, four to eight weeks before your first fall frost, per Purdue's explicit list, which names mustard greens directly. Because mustard can take frost but not a hard freeze, a cold-winter climate should treat the fall window's later end with more caution than a fully hardy crop like kale; a mild-winter climate has more room in both the spring and fall windows before a damaging freeze becomes a real risk.

Mustard greens are fast enough from seed, 25 to 50 days, that nurseries sell them almost entirely as seed rather than as started transplants, for both the spring and fall windows above.

Frost hardiness

Semi-hardy. Tolerates light frost. Best planted close to the last frost date.

Days to maturity

25–50

Sourcing notes

Not covered by CSU. PURDUE's own Table 1 lists mustard in BOTH its hardy and semi-hardy sections (an apparent internal inconsistency in that table) - resolved using PURDUE's semi-hardy numeric window (2-4wk before frost), which matches Clemson's qualitative description ("frost-tolerant but may be damaged by a hard freeze" - a semi-hardy, not fully hardy, behavior). Flagged the PURDUE dual-listing explicitly. DTM: Clemson 25-50, NCSU 30-40 - combined range. Fall figure per PURDUE's explicit list (mustard greens named).

Related crops

Growing zones for this crop

Nurseries near these locations

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Sources