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

The earliest that you can plant carrots in Elgin can be estimated by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Carrots

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

You can plant carrots just a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant carrots in Elgin 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 carrots and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your carrots may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your carrots indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Elgin the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Elgin is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Elgin there is a last frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your carrots if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elgin

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 Elgin

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