When to Plant Cigar Plant in Sterling, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 first chance to plant cigar plant in Sterling should be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Cigar Plant

Frost tolerance for cigar plant: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably not a good idea to plant cigar plant until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant cigar plant in Sterling 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 cigar plant and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your cigar plant may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your cigar plant indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Sterling 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 Sterling is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Sterling there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your cigar plant in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sterling

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 Sterling

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