When to Plant Corn in Galesburg, 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 referring to the USDA zone info for Galesburg it's a good idea to estimate when it's a good idea to plant corn.


Planting Calendar for Corn

Frost tolerance for corn: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost.

It's probably not a good idea to plant corn until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant corn in Galesburg is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant corn and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your corn may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your corn indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Galesburg is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Galesburg last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your corn if you have 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.