When to Plant String beans in Mattoon, IL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Mattoon you can figure out when it's the best time to plant string beans by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for String beans

Frost tolerance for string beans: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

String beans are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant string beans in Mattoon 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 string beans and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your string beans may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your string beans indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Mattoon the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mattoon is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Mattoon there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your string beans in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mattoon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Mattoon

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