Yes — Strong Match
kohlrabi is grown in zones 2-11, which covers every zone Alabama contains (7b-9b). Whether the season is long enough is the question that remains.
Kohlrabi in Alabama — the short answer
Kohlrabi in Alabama: grown in zones 2–11, part sun.
- Plant zones
- 2-11
- Not verified
- Alabama zones
- 7b-9b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Feb 24 - Mar 16 – Nov 15 - Nov 28
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 225 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
- Days to maturity
- 55 days
- Growable Ground Plant Database
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset.
Your yard isn't the whole zone.
Alabama spans zones 7b-9b, but your yard sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and cold-air pockets nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score kohlrabi against your parcel's actual hardiness, soil, and sun.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Alabama is not one climate
A single Alabama answer averages 67 counties whose growing seasons are 72 days apart — from 225 frost-free days in Marion County to 297 in Mobile County. Which end of that your land sits nearer changes what kohlrabi can finish before the first hard freeze.
The middle half of 67 counties runs 244–277 days, with a median of 266 days — a 72-day span end to end.
Measured across 67 Alabama counties. NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze. Quartiles are order statistics — every figure shown is a value a real county recorded, not an interpolation. Your own site sits somewhere inside this range; a parcel report resolves where.
Where in Alabama Fits Best
Even within Alabama's zones 7b-9b, county microclimates differ enough to change what thrives. These counties carry the closest zone match for kohlrabi (USDA PHZM 2023):
Zone Comparison
Kohlrabi Needs
- USDA Zones: 2-11
- Sun: Part SunWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- Mature size: 1 ft tallWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- Picking window: ~14 days of harvestWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- Drought tolerance: LowWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
Alabama Has
- USDA Zones: 7b-9b
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Feb 24 - Mar 16
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Nov 15 - Nov 28
- Annual Rainfall: 50-65 inches
- Common Soils: Red clay, Sandy loam, Alluvial
Plant Zone Range (zones 2-11)
Preferred Soil pH
We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset. State data: USDA ARS PHZM 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NRCS SSURGO.
When to Plant Kohlrabi in Alabama
The frost window
Across Alabama, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Feb 24 and Mar 16, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 15 and Nov 28 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 244-day window you can count on — up to 277 days on a mild site in a kind year. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost, so tender transplants usually wait another 2-3 weeks.
When to start the seed
Those dates are when kohlrabi goes out, not when it starts. It is sown under cover about 4 weeks ahead, so counting back from Alabama's late-side last freeze of Mar 16 is what fixes your sowing date — and a yard that clears frost earlier than the state's late date starts earlier still.
Winter standing
Alabama runs as cold as USDA zone 7, and no sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for kohlrabi, so this page does not state whether it overwinters here — and gives no fall establishment date on the strength of a guess. Whether kohlrabi is a permanent planting or a replant-every-spring crop for you turns on your own zone within Alabama; check its hardiness range against that before treating it as long-lived ground.
Frost window: NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020. Plant timing fields: Growable Ground Plant Database — frost-free days from FAO ECOCROP, days to harvest from university Extension production guides, and growing-degree-day and chill-hour minimums that are compilation estimates rather than published figures. Your site's own frost dates can run earlier or later than the state range — a parcel report pins them down.
Growing Season Fit
Kohlrabi is grown in zones 2–11, which covers every zone Alabama contains (7b-9b). We have no sourced winter-survival figure for kohlrabi, so this page does not say whether it overwinters here. Alabama's typical season runs ~266 frost-free days against the ~60 kohlrabi needs.
Growing degree days
Kohlrabi needs ~1100 GDD (base 50°F) to ripen. We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet. The state median runs ~5383 GDD (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), so Alabama's typical season clears that easily.
GDD and chill-hour figures are computed from PRISM 1991-2020 monthly climate normals; frost-free days from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Each is the state median across its counties (P25/P75 span the within-state spread). Hardiness-zone range is USDA PHZM 2023.
Soil + Drainage Fit
Kohlrabi tolerates a wide pH range (pH 5.5-8.5) — 3 units, acid ground through alkaline — so soil acidity is rarely what limits it in Alabama. A soil test is still worth having, but for what else it tells you about this site, not to clear this plant. It will grow across that whole span, but it does best between pH 6 and 7 — worth knowing before you decide whether a Alabama soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells). If your Alabama site is heavier clay or sits in a low spot, a raised bed lifts the roots above wet ground, or work in compost. pH range, preferred pH and drainage need: We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
Plant pH requirements: FAO ECOCROP and USDA PLANTS, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Drainage: FAO ECOCROP, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Alabama soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
Before you plant kohlrabi for food
Anything you grow to eat takes up what is in the ground it grows in, so what is on record near you is worth knowing before kohlrabi goes in. What follows is Alabama’s documented federal record at state scale — a screening signal, not a soil test, and not a statement about any one lot.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Alabama — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Alabama — 20,346 documented sites across 7 of the 8 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 327 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Alabama carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds of imported, lab-tested soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Sources Checked
across Alabama
Severity Distribution
across Alabama
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Alabama, CAFO runs higher than the national average — 1,551 sites across Alabama. That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
CAFO: CAFOs pose a different contamination profile than chemical sources.
Wash all produce consumed raw thoroughly, especially leafy greens grown near CAFOs.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 950K documented sites tracked nationwide across 8 federal source types.
What Else to Consider for Kohlrabi in Alabama
The zone range tells you where kohlrabi is grown — but Alabama growers also need to think about:
Heavy clay soils in the Piedmont region
High humidity promotes fungal diseases
Fire ants are a persistent garden pest
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Alabama grower, not just kohlrabi — is covered on the Alabama growing guide.
Where in Alabama Kohlrabi Is Zone-Hardy
Kohlrabi is rated for USDA zones 2–11. Every one of Alabama’s 67 counties sits inside that band — from Jackson County at zone 7b to Mobile County at zone 9a — so winter cold is not what decides this plant anywhere in the state. What is left to vary is your own parcel: slope, shelter and cold-air drainage routinely move a site half a zone either way from the county figure.
Across those 67 counties Alabama’s winter-low ladder runs from zone 7b in Jackson County to zone 9a in Mobile County — 1.5 USDA zones of spread, which is 15°F between the two counties’ average coldest night of the year. That is why a statewide hardiness answer is where you start and not where you finish.
The planting window moves with it. Marion County holds its last hard freeze (28°F) until about Mar 28, while Mobile County is clear by Feb 9 — 47 days apart. Set kohlrabi out on your county’s date, not the state’s.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. County last-freeze dates: NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991-2020), county 28°F killing freeze — earlier than the folk 32°F "last frost". Kohlrabi’s zone 2–11 band: Not verified. A parcel report resolves your address’s own zone and frost dates rather than its county’s.
Pollinator + Wildlife Value
Kohlrabi draws honeybees and native bees (moderate value). Planting it near vegetable beds can lift fruit set on neighboring crops. Outdoors, kohlrabi can only work that bloom inside Alabama's frost window — roughly 266 days, opening after the last 28°F freeze (Feb 24 - Mar 16) and closing at the first (Nov 15 - Nov 28), per NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Pollinator value: We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
Alabama Cooperative Extension
For Alabama-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for kohlrabi, the canonical source is Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Is Kohlrabi native to Alabama?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Kohlrabi as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Alabama's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Alabama natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
Looking for plants that belong here? The Alabama growing guide lists plants that USDA PLANTS records growing in Alabama and that Kew and NatureServe Explorer both list in its native range, leaving out any that NatureServe flags as exotic there or that our audit holds.
State records: USDA PLANTS Database state-distribution data (presence, not state-level nativity), accessed 2026-10-19.
Common Questions About Growing Kohlrabi in Alabama
When can I plant Kohlrabi in Alabama?
Alabama's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Feb 24 and Mar 16, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 15 and Nov 28 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). No sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for Kohlrabi, so this page does not state whether it overwinters in Alabama and publishes no fall establishment date for it — check its hardiness range against your own zone before treating it as a permanent planting.
What hardiness zone is Kohlrabi grown in across Alabama?
Alabama spans USDA hardiness zones 7b-9b (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Kohlrabi carries a range of zones 2-11, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Alabama site have?
A typical Alabama site sees ~266 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Kohlrabi needs 60+ frost-free days, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date.
Is Kohlrabi native to Alabama?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Kohlrabi as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Alabama's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Alabama natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
How should I amend the soil for Kohlrabi in Alabama?
Kohlrabi tolerates pH 5.5-8.5 and well (dry spells) drainage. We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet. That is a 3-unit span, acid ground through alkaline, so pH is rarely what limits this plant on a Alabama site — amend for drainage and organic matter first.
Will Kohlrabi actually grow on my specific land in Alabama?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores kohlrabi against your address's mapped soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in Alabama
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores kohlrabi against your land's mapped soil, modelled sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Alabama kohlrabi averages can't show:
We read public map data around Alabama — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Alabama kohlrabi average
Explore More
Growing guides for kohlrabi
Explore Alabama county by county
Alabama carries 67 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for kohlrabi there:
Where else kohlrabi grows
Kohlrabi's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Alabama in winter climate where it also has a page, plus the far ends of its range. Each one re-answers the question with that state's own record.
More to grow in Alabama
Alabama has a growing page for 1,029 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
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