When to Plant Cilantro in Princeton, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

The USDA zone info for Princeton should be looked at to figure out when it's possible to plant cilantro.


Planting Calendar for Cilantro

Frost tolerance for cilantro: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since cilantro are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant cilantro in Princeton is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cilantro and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cilantro may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your cilantro indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Princeton the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Princeton may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Princeton you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cilantro in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Princeton

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 Princeton

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