Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to figure out when it's a good idea to plant turnips by using the USDA zone info for Elgin.

Planting Calendar for Turnips

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

You should not plant turnips until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant turnips in Elgin 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 turnips and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your turnips may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your turnips indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on March 15 in Elgin. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Elgin is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Elgin it frosts late in the year after March 15 be ready to cover your turnips in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elgin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Elgin

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