When to plant Rhubarb in Illinois, United States

Rhubarb can be planted after April 22, when air temperature is consistently in a range between 40°F and 80°F and soil temperature is above 45°F.

Rhubarb details page

Growing Rhubarb in Illinois

Days suitable for growing Rhubarb in Illinois

On average Rhubarb needs from 56 to 70 days to mature and produce harvest.

It could prove difficult to start growing Rhubarb in Illinois, when planting directly into soil, due to short growing period suitable for growing Rhubarb.

In order to have a chance of getting any harvest, all available season extention methods should be utilised.

Start seeds indoors

Illinois has 2 distinct seasons for growing Rhubarb

In order to get plants ready for April 22 seeds should be started indoors bwetween March 11 and March 24
Seeds started after March 24 are not likely to mature and produce harvest.
This Rhubarb growing season in Illinois is quite short, with only 42 days suitable for growth so it is really important to time your planting activities, and choose varieties with shorter time to harvest requirements.
In order to get plants ready for September 21 seeds should be started indoors bwetween August 10 and August 21
Seeds started after August 21 are not likely to mature and produce harvest.
This Rhubarb growing season in Illinois is quite short, with only 40 days suitable for growth so it is really important to time your planting activities, and choose varieties with shorter time to harvest requirements.

Use a cold frame

When using a cold frame in a beggining of growing season You can protect young plants from possible temperature drops, this way growing season can start up to 2 weeks earlier.

Use an additional shading

On days, when air temperatures are expected to raise above 80°F, which is in top of tolerable range for Rhubarb, consider using additional shading to prevent heat shock.

Total frost free days	192
Last frost expected date	April 22
First frost expected date	October 31
Dates with ideal conditions
Dates with suitable conditions	April 04 to April 14 (11 days) April 20 April 22 to June 02 (42 days) June 07 to June 09 (3 days) June 12 to June 13 (2 days) September 08 to September 09 (2 days) September 11 to September 14 (4 days) September 19 September 21 to October 30 (40 days) November 04 to November 11 (8 days)
Total days ideal for growing Rhubarb in Illinois	0
Total days suitable for growing Rhubarb in Illinois	114
Days needed for Rhubarb to mature and produce harvest	56 - 70
Seed can be planted directly into soil	no
Seed has to be started indoors	yes

Notable temperature facts for growing Rhubarb in Illinois

Table with days suitable to grow vegetables in Illinois

Tolerable temperature range for Rhubarb: 40°F to 80°F

	Week	Average temperature	Possible min and max temperature	Suitable for Rhubarb
1	January 01 - January 03	29°F to 42°F	6°F to 58°F
2	January 04 - January 10	26°F to 40°F	0°F to 57°F
3	January 11 - January 17	27°F to 39°F	9°F to 55°F
4	January 18 - January 24	20°F to 35°F	-2°F to 46°F
5	January 25 - January 31	16°F to 31°F	-19°F to 43°F
6	February 01 - February 07	22°F to 38°F	-3°F to 58°F
7	February 08 - February 14	19°F to 34°F	-6°F to 56°F
8	February 15 - February 21	20°F to 39°F	-5°F to 57°F
9	February 22 - February 28	28°F to 44°F	12°F to 59°F
10	March 01 - March 07	29°F to 49°F	0°F to 68°F
11	March 08 - March 14	34°F to 51°F	12°F to 67°F
12	March 15 - March 21	34°F to 52°F	17°F to 70°F
13	March 22 - March 28	38°F to 54°F	26°F to 69°F
14	March 29 - April 04	38°F to 58°F	26°F to 77°F
15	April 05 - April 11	45°F to 64°F	32°F to 77°F	TRUE
16	April 12 - April 18	41°F to 60°F	28°F to 77°F	TRUE
17	April 19 - April 25	44°F to 62°F	29°F to 80°F	TRUE
18	April 26 - May 02	47°F to 65°F	35°F to 80°F	TRUE
19	May 03 - May 09	49°F to 67°F	40°F to 81°F	TRUE
20	May 10 - May 16	52°F to 70°F	33°F to 87°F	TRUE
21	May 17 - May 23	57°F to 74°F	47°F to 84°F	TRUE
22	May 24 - May 30	60°F to 77°F	44°F to 86°F	TRUE
23	May 31 - June 06	62°F to 80°F	52°F to 89°F	TRUE
24	June 07 - June 13	62°F to 80°F	52°F to 91°F	TRUE
25	June 14 - June 20	64°F to 83°F	53°F to 93°F
26	June 21 - June 27	67°F to 83°F	54°F to 93°F
27	June 28 - July 04	69°F to 85°F	58°F to 91°F
28	July 05 - July 11	69°F to 85°F	61°F to 93°F
29	July 12 - July 18	68°F to 84°F	63°F to 90°F
30	July 19 - July 25	69°F to 86°F	61°F to 93°F
31	July 26 - August 01	69°F to 85°F	60°F to 94°F
32	August 02 - August 08	67°F to 83°F	56°F to 90°F
33	August 09 - August 15	68°F to 83°F	62°F to 91°F
34	August 16 - August 22	67°F to 83°F	58°F to 91°F
35	August 23 - August 29	69°F to 85°F	60°F to 97°F
36	August 30 - September 05	65°F to 81°F	55°F to 90°F
37	September 06 - September 12	64°F to 80°F	56°F to 89°F	TRUE
38	September 13 - September 19	62°F to 80°F	53°F to 87°F	TRUE
39	September 20 - September 26	60°F to 76°F	48°F to 91°F	TRUE
40	September 27 - October 03	59°F to 75°F	44°F to 87°F	TRUE
41	October 04 - October 10	53°F to 70°F	38°F to 82°F	TRUE
42	October 11 - October 17	49°F to 66°F	37°F to 79°F	TRUE
43	October 18 - October 24	48°F to 64°F	33°F to 78°F	TRUE
44	October 25 - October 31	44°F to 55°F	29°F to 72°F	TRUE
45	November 01 - November 07	40°F to 58°F	24°F to 73°F	TRUE
46	November 08 - November 14	39°F to 54°F	11°F to 74°F
47	November 15 - November 21	35°F to 50°F	18°F to 65°F
48	November 22 - November 28	33°F to 47°F	18°F to 57°F
49	November 29 - December 05	32°F to 47°F	22°F to 60°F
50	December 06 - December 12	32°F to 46°F	18°F to 61°F
51	December 13 - December 19	30°F to 41°F	15°F to 66°F
52	December 20 - December 26	29°F to 44°F	-8°F to 61°F
53	December 27 - December 31	31°F to 45°F	10°F to 60°F

Days with suitable temperature for growing Rhubarb in Illinois

Rhubarb details page

For more precise weather statisctics and planting information, please select a County in Illinois.

All data is provided “as is” without warranty or any representation of accuracy, timeliness or completeness.

Average daily temperatures were calculated using

Weather data provided by OpenWeather