One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The USDA zone info for Decatur can be used to figure out when it's a good idea to plant black radish.

Planting Calendar for Black radish

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

Since black radish do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant black radish in Decatur 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. Any later than that and your black radish may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your black radish indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Decatur is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Decatur last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your black radish in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Decatur

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Decatur

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