🥦 When to Plant Kohlrabi
Harvest when bulb is golf-ball to tennis-ball size before it gets woody
📅 Planting Calendar by USDA Zone
Kohlrabi is a cool-season crop — plant it around your last spring frost, and you can often start it earlier indoors or sow again for a fall harvest. Find the exact start-indoors, transplant, and direct-sow dates for your USDA zone in the table below.
Select your zone to highlight your dates. All dates are calculated from each zone's average frost dates — see how we calculate them.
| Zone | Last Frost | Start Indoors | Transplant | Direct Sow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 2A | May 30 | May 2 | May 16 | May 2 |
| Zone 3B | May 15 | Apr 17 | May 1 | Apr 17 |
| Zone 4A | May 8 | Apr 10 | Apr 24 | Apr 10 |
| Zone 4B | May 1 | Apr 3 | Apr 17 | Apr 3 |
| Zone 5A | Apr 25 | Mar 28 | Apr 11 | Mar 28 |
| Zone 5B | Apr 18 | Mar 21 | Apr 4 | Mar 21 |
| Zone 6A | Apr 21 | Mar 24 | Apr 7 | Mar 24 |
| Zone 6B | Apr 10 | Mar 13 | Mar 27 | Mar 13 |
| Zone 7A | Apr 5 | Mar 8 | Mar 22 | Mar 8 |
| Zone 7B | Mar 28 | Feb 28 | Mar 14 | Feb 28 |
| Zone 8A | Mar 20 | Feb 20 | Mar 6 | Feb 20 |
| Zone 8B | Mar 12 | Feb 12 | Feb 26 | Feb 12 |
| Zone 9A | Feb 28 | Jan 31 | Feb 14 | Jan 31 |
| Zone 9B | Feb 15 | Jan 18 | Feb 1 | Jan 18 |
| Zone 10A | Feb 1 | Jan 4 | Jan 18 | Jan 4 |
| Zone 10B | Jan 15 | Dec 18 | Jan 1 | Dec 18 |
| Zone 11A | Jan 1 | Dec 4 | Dec 18 | Dec 4 |
Kohlrabi is the underrated brassica of the spring garden. It grows fast, tastes like a mild broccoli stem crossed with an apple, and is ready in 45-60 days.
Top Growing Tips
- Start indoors 4 weeks before last frost or direct sow 4 weeks before
- Harvest when the swollen stem (not a root — it grows above ground) is golf-ball to tennis-ball size
- Larger than 3 inches means it’s getting woody and tough
- Tolerates light frost; plant early for spring harvest and again in late summer for fall
- Thin to 5-6 inches apart for proper bulb development
Companion Planting
Good companions: beets, onions, cucumbers, aromatic herbs
Avoid planting near: tomatoes, pole beans, strawberries
Harvest Timeline
45-60 days from transplant; harvest when 2-3 inches in diameter
Growing kohlrabi in your region?
These dates come from your zone's frost windows. For the full month-by-month plan — succession sowing, variety picks, and timing tuned to your climate, not just your zone — our regional vegetable-gardening guides cover your area start to finish.
Find your regional growing guide