One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant corn in Rock Falls should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Corn

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

Corn require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant corn in Rock Falls 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 corn and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your corn may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your corn indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Rock Falls 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.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rock Falls and it is different every year. Half of the time in Rock Falls last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your corn if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rock Falls

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 Rock Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rock Falls.