When to Plant Radicchio in Pekin, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of estimating when it's possible to plant radicchio is to examine the USDA zone info for Pekin.


Planting Calendar for Radicchio

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

Radicchio are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

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

Last Frost Date

In Pekin 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.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Pekin is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Pekin there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your radicchio 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.