When to plant in Algona, IA

Planting dates worked out from Algona's own frost records, not a generic zone chart.

Safe to plant out

May 10

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 28

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 3

1 year in 10 by Sep 19

Frost-free days

161

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Algona · 1.0 km away · station 370 m, town 364 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Algona plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 15 – Mar 29	May 10 – May 24	Jul 4
Sweet pepper	Mar 1 – Mar 15	May 10 – May 24	Jul 9
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 3 – Mar 10	Apr 7 – Apr 21	May 17
Peas	—	Apr 7 – May 5	Jun 1
Bush beans	—	May 3 – May 24	Jun 22
Carrot	—	Apr 16 – May 28	Jun 15
Beet	—	Apr 16 – May 28	Jun 5
Potato	—	Apr 16 – May 7	Jun 25
Kale	Mar 3 – Mar 17	Apr 14 – Apr 28	May 27
Broccoli	Feb 24 – Mar 10	Apr 7 – Apr 28	Jun 6
Cucumber	Apr 12 – Apr 19	May 10 – May 24	Jun 29
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 12 – Apr 19	May 10 – May 24	Jun 24
Winter squash	Apr 12 – Apr 19	May 10 – May 24	Jul 29
Sweet corn	—	May 3 – May 24	Jul 2
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 7 – Apr 28	Jul 6
Garlic	—	Sep 19 – Oct 17 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 7 – May 5	May 15
Basil	Mar 29 – Apr 12	May 10 – May 24	Jul 6

Plan all 65 crops for Algona

Algona's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Last spring frost
1893	Apr 22
1894	Apr 11
1895	Apr 3
1896	Apr 6
1898	Apr 7
1899	Apr 8
1900	Apr 12
1901	May 12
1902	Apr 23
1903	May 3
1904	Apr 27
1905	May 26
1906	May 7
1907	May 27
1908	May 3
1909	May 10
1910	May 13
1911	May 3
1912	Apr 27
1913	Apr 27
1914	Apr 20
1915	Apr 12
1917	May 23
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 26
1920	May 14
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 20
1923	May 9
1924	May 24
1925	May 25
1926	May 14
1927	Apr 24
1928	Apr 27
1929	May 16
1931	May 22
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 3
1936	Apr 22
1937	May 14
1938	May 8
1939	Apr 21
1940	May 3
1941	Apr 24
1942	Apr 20
1943	May 7
1944	May 6
1945	May 10
1946	May 12
1947	May 29
1948	Apr 13
1949	Apr 24
1950	May 5
1951	Apr 26
1952	Apr 24
1953	May 13
1954	May 8
1955	May 8
1957	May 5
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 11
1961	May 3
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 14
1967	May 9
1968	May 12
1969	May 10
1970	May 2
1971	May 12
1973	May 3
1974	May 6
1975	Apr 20
1976	May 7
1977	Apr 8
1978	May 2
1979	May 4
1980	May 9
1981	May 11
1982	Apr 22
1983	May 15
1984	May 1
1985	Apr 15
1987	Apr 6
1988	Apr 26
1989	May 7
1990	May 1
1991	Apr 10
1992	May 5
1993	Apr 22
1994	May 2
1995	Apr 28
1996	Apr 30
1997	May 15
2002	May 21
2006	May 7
2007	Apr 15
2009	Apr 28
2010	Apr 10
2011	May 6
2012	Apr 21
2013	May 6
2014	Apr 19
2015	Apr 24
2016	Apr 13
2017	Apr 30
2019	May 1
2020	May 10
2021	May 11
2022	Apr 28
2023	Apr 29
2024	Apr 22

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1901	157
1902	173
1903	167
1904	161
1905	137
1906	154
1907	120
1908	147
1909	153
1910	145
1911	157
1912	151
1913	147
1914	186
1915	175
1918	141
1919	166
1920	137
1921	139
1922	171
1923	149
1924	128
1925	136
1926	133
1927	172
1928	148
1929	124
1931	162
1932	160
1933	167
1934	152
1935	146
1936	181
1937	151
1938	166
1939	161
1940	164
1941	185
1942	156
1943	160
1944	156
1945	140
1946	152
1947	119
1948	186
1949	157
1950	150
1951	154
1952	163
1953	146
1954	160
1955	152
1957	157
1959	169
1960	160
1961	147
1962	158
1963	158
1964	171
1965	150
1966	139
1967	141
1968	144
1969	148
1970	160
1971	168
1973	165
1974	138
1975	164
1977	183
1978	158
1981	143
1982	151
1983	128
1984	147
1985	168
1987	179
1988	160
1989	138
1990	161
1991	161
1992	146
1993	162
1994	175
1995	146
1996	155
2006	135
2007	152
2009	161
2010	175
2011	131
2012	155
2013	164
2014	168
2015	175
2016	182
2019	163
2020	144
2021	164
2022	152
2023	163
2024	175

Each year's average temperature, April to SeptemberLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	18.4 °C
1894	20.2 °C
1895	19.7 °C
1896	20.1 °C
1897	18.6 °C
1898	18.5 °C
1899	18.8 °C
1901	18.9 °C
1902	16.9 °C
1903	17.0 °C
1904	16.1 °C
1905	17.1 °C
1906	17.7 °C
1907	15.3 °C
1908	17.3 °C
1909	16.6 °C
1910	17.6 °C
1911	19.1 °C
1912	17.2 °C
1913	18.2 °C
1915	16.6 °C
1917	16.2 °C
1918	17.7 °C
1919	18.2 °C
1920	16.4 °C
1921	19.2 °C
1922	18.4 °C
1923	18.1 °C
1924	16.2 °C
1925	19.1 °C
1926	17.8 °C
1927	17.1 °C
1928	16.9 °C
1929	17.4 °C
1931	19.3 °C
1932	18.4 °C
1933	18.9 °C
1934	19.1 °C
1935	17.3 °C
1936	19.5 °C
1937	18.5 °C
1938	18.4 °C
1939	19.2 °C
1940	18.0 °C
1941	19.8 °C
1942	17.7 °C
1943	17.3 °C
1944	17.7 °C
1945	16.3 °C
1946	17.5 °C
1947	17.6 °C
1948	18.8 °C
1949	18.5 °C
1950	15.9 °C
1951	16.1 °C
1952	17.9 °C
1953	17.5 °C
1954	17.8 °C
1955	19.4 °C
1957	17.6 °C
1959	18.3 °C
1960	17.4 °C
1961	16.1 °C
1962	17.1 °C
1963	18.4 °C
1964	18.6 °C
1965	17.4 °C
1966	17.0 °C
1967	16.8 °C
1968	17.6 °C
1969	17.5 °C
1970	17.8 °C
1971	17.7 °C
1972	17.1 °C
1973	17.5 °C
1974	16.9 °C
1975	17.6 °C
1976	18.4 °C
1977	19.6 °C
1978	18.4 °C
1981	18.1 °C
1982	17.7 °C
1983	18.2 °C
1984	17.5 °C
1985	17.4 °C
1987	19.0 °C
1988	19.0 °C
1989	17.4 °C
1990	17.5 °C
1991	18.2 °C
1992	15.9 °C
1993	15.9 °C
1994	17.7 °C
1995	17.4 °C
1996	16.7 °C
2002	17.0 °C
2006	17.6 °C
2007	17.6 °C
2008	16.2 °C
2009	16.0 °C
2010	18.0 °C
2011	16.9 °C
2012	18.4 °C
2013	16.6 °C
2014	16.5 °C
2015	17.4 °C
2016	17.9 °C
2019	17.6 °C
2020	17.5 °C
2021	18.4 °C
2022	17.3 °C
2023	18.3 °C
2024	18.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Algona's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Algona (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Britt Emmetsburg Humboldt Garner Pocahontas Eagle Grove