When to Plant Cauliflower in East Alton, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By looking at the USDA zone info for East Alton it's possible to estimate when you can plant cauliflower.


Planting Calendar for Cauliflower

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

Since cauliflower are moderately cold tolerant you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in East Alton. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for East Alton is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in East Alton you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your cauliflower if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for East Alton

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 East Alton

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Alton.