When to Plant Millet in Sterling, 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 Sterling can be looked at to estimate when to plant millet.

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Planting Calendar for Millet

Frost tolerance for millet: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant millet until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant millet 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 millet and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your millet may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your millet indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Sterling. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sterling and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Sterling you get a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your millet in the event of a surprise late frost.

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.