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.

The first opportunity to plant black radish in Joliet should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Black radish

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

Black radish do ok in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant black radish in Joliet 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 black radish and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your black radish may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your black radish indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Joliet. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Joliet and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Joliet it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your black radish in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Joliet

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 Joliet

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