When to Plant Leeks in Ottawa, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

In Ottawa you can estimate when you can plant leeks by referring to the USDA zone info.

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Planting Calendar for Leeks

Frost tolerance for leeks: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Leeks do well in quite a bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant leeks in Ottawa is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant leeks and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your leeks may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your leeks indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ottawa may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ottawa last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your leeks in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

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