When to Plant Corn in Geneva, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

By using the USDA zone info for Geneva it's a good idea to determine 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 all chance of frost has passed.

Corn are not cold tolerant which tells us that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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 Geneva 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 really do well. If you are starting your corn 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 Geneva. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Geneva may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Geneva you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your corn in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Geneva

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 Geneva

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