When to Plant Red cabbage in West Chicago, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for West Chicago it's possible to figure out when it's possible to plant red cabbage.

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Planting Calendar for Red cabbage

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

Red cabbage can survive in pretty solid cold which tells us that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant red cabbage in West Chicago 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 red cabbage and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your red cabbage may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your red cabbage indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in West Chicago. 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 West Chicago 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 West Chicago last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your red cabbage if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Chicago

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 West Chicago

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Chicago.