When to Plant Pearl onions in Carmi, IL

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

In Carmi you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant pearl onions by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Pearl onions

Frost tolerance for pearl onions: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant pearl onions slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

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

The earliest that you can plant pearl onions in Carmi is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant pearl onions and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your pearl onions may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your pearl onions indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Carmi. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Carmi is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Carmi there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your pearl onions in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carmi

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 Carmi

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