When to Plant Carrots in Galesburg, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant carrots is to refer to the USDA zone info for Galesburg.


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 a little bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant carrots in Galesburg 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your carrots may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your carrots 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 Galesburg. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Galesburg is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Galesburg last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your carrots in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Galesburg

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 Galesburg

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