One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

In South Beloit you can figure out when to plant strawberries by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Strawberries

Frost tolerance for strawberries:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

You can plant strawberries quite a bit earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant strawberries in South Beloit 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 strawberries and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your strawberries may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your strawberries indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in South Beloit. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for South Beloit may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in South Beloit last frost occurs after April 15 so always be ready to cover your strawberries in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for South Beloit

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 South Beloit

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South Beloit.