When to Plant Radicchio in Sterling, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

You can figure out when it's the best time to plant radicchio in Sterling by checking out the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Radicchio

Frost tolerance for radicchio: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Radicchio do ok in a little bit of cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The earliest that you can plant radicchio in Sterling 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 radicchio and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your radicchio may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your radicchio indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Sterling. 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. Since half of the time in Sterling last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your radicchio if you have 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.