When to Plant Peanut in Ottawa, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 reviewing the USDA zone info for Ottawa it's possible to estimate when it's possible to plant peanut.


Planting Calendar for Peanut

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant peanut until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant peanut in Ottawa 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 peanut and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your peanut may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your peanut indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ottawa is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Ottawa it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your peanut if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

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 Ottawa

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