When to Plant Millet in Wheeling, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The best time to plant millet in Wheeling can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Millet

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

Since millet are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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 Wheeling 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. If you wait any later than that and your millet may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your millet indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Wheeling. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Wheeling is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Wheeling last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your millet if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Wheeling

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 Wheeling

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