When to Plant Beets in Pontiac, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to figure out when you can plant beets by referring to the USDA zone info for Pontiac.

Create beautiful hand-made plants at forever-plants.com

Planting Calendar for Beets

Frost tolerance for beets: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Beets can survive in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant beets in Pontiac 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 beets and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your beets may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your beets indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Pontiac is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Pontiac it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your beets in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pontiac

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 Pontiac

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