One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your 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 black radish in Chesapeake should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Black radish

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

Black radish can survive in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant black radish in Chesapeake 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 black radish and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your black radish may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your black radish indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Chesapeake. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Chesapeake is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Chesapeake you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your black radish if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Chesapeake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Chesapeake

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