When to Plant Kale in Belleville, IL

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.

You will be able to figure out when it's possible to plant kale by using the USDA zone info for Belleville.


Planting Calendar for Kale

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

Kale do ok in some cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant kale in Belleville 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 kale and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your kale may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your kale indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Belleville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Belleville is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Belleville last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your kale in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Belleville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Belleville

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