When to Plant Sweet corn in Franklin, VA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant sweet corn in Franklin should be determined by looking at the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Sweet corn

Frost tolerance for sweet corn: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since sweet corn are barely cold tolerant you can plant them just a tiny bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant sweet corn
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant sweet corn
Probably not a good time to plant sweet corn

The earliest that you can plant sweet corn in Franklin is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant sweet corn and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your sweet corn may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your sweet corn indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Franklin. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Franklin is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Franklin there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your sweet corn in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Franklin

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low5°F
Highest Expected Low10°F

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

Plants to Grow in Franklin

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