One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

The USDA zone info for Decatur should be used to determine when to plant banana.

Planting Calendar for Banana

Frost tolerance for banana:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant banana until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant banana in Decatur 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 banana and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your banana may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your banana indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Decatur. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Decatur and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Decatur there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your banana in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Decatur

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Decatur

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