When to Plant Corn in Champaign, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can determine when it's the best time to plant corn in Champaign by checking out the USDA zone info.

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Planting Calendar for Corn

Frost tolerance for corn: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Since corn are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant corn in Champaign is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant corn and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your corn may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your corn indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Champaign. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Champaign may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Champaign you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your corn in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Champaign

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Champaign

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Champaign.