When to Plant Mustard in Lincoln, IL

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 USDA zone info for Lincoln can be read to estimate when it's a good idea to plant mustard.


Planting Calendar for Mustard

Frost tolerance for mustard: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's a bad idea to plant mustard until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

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

Last Frost Date

In Lincoln 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 Lincoln is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Lincoln it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your mustard in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lincoln

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 Lincoln

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