One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant neeps in Pekin can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Neeps

Frost tolerance for neeps:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably a bad idea to plant neeps until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant neeps in Pekin 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 neeps and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your neeps may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your neeps indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for Pekin is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Pekin you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your neeps if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Pekin

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 Pekin

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