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.

You can estimate when it's possible to plant radishes in Ames by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Radishes

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

Since radishes are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ames. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Ames may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ames you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your radishes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Ames

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Ames

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