When to Plant Bok Choi in Pontiac, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Pontiac should be used to determine when you can plant bok choi.


Planting Calendar for Bok Choi

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

Bok Choi tend to make it in a little bit of cold which means that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant bok choi in Pontiac 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 bok choi and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bok choi may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your bok choi indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Pontiac 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 Pontiac is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Pontiac there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your bok choi in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pontiac

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 Pontiac

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