One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 opportunity to plant corn in Rochester can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Corn

Frost tolerance for corn:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

It's probably not a good idea to plant corn until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant corn in Rochester is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant corn and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your corn may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your corn indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Rochester. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Rochester and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Rochester it frosts late in the year after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your corn if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Rochester

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Rochester

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