One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

The USDA zone info for Whiting should be reviewed to figure out when it's the best time to plant banana.

Planting Calendar for Banana

Frost tolerance for banana:	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 banana until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Whiting. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Whiting is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Whiting last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your banana in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Whiting

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Whiting

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