Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant black radish is to refer to the USDA zone info for Ankeny.

Planting Calendar for Black radish

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

Black radish can survive in mild cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant black radish in Ankeny 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 black radish and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your black radish may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your black radish indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Ankeny. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Ankeny is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Ankeny you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your black radish in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ankeny

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 Ankeny

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