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

The best time to plant black radish in Chicago should be estimated by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Black radish

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

You can plant black radish a little earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant black radish in Chicago 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your black radish may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your black radish indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Chicago. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Chicago is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Chicago you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your black radish if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chicago

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Chicago

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