When to plant in Dike, IA

Planting dates worked out from Dike'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 6

1 year in 10 by Sep 23

Frost-free days

159

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Grundy Ctr · 15.4 km away · station 300 m, town 288 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Dike 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)	Feb 28 – Mar 7	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 14
Peas	—	Apr 4 – May 2	May 29
Bush beans	—	May 3 – May 24	Jun 22
Carrot	—	Apr 14 – May 26	Jun 13
Beet	—	Apr 14 – May 26	Jun 3
Potato	—	Apr 14 – May 5	Jun 23
Kale	Feb 28 – Mar 14	Apr 11 – Apr 25	May 24
Broccoli	Feb 21 – Mar 7	Apr 4 – Apr 25	Jun 3
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 4 – Apr 25	Jul 3
Garlic	—	Sep 22 – Oct 20 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 4 – May 2	May 12
Basil	Mar 29 – Apr 12	May 10 – May 24	Jul 6

Plan all 65 crops for Dike

Dike'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
1894	May 19
1895	May 14
1896	Apr 9
1897	May 31
1898	May 6
1899	Apr 22
1901	Apr 22
1903	May 3
1904	Apr 21
1905	Apr 30
1906	May 7
1907	May 20
1908	May 3
1909	May 10
1910	May 4
1911	May 3
1912	Apr 27
1913	May 12
1914	Apr 20
1915	Apr 13
1916	May 2
1917	May 6
1918	May 1
1919	Apr 18
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 9
1924	May 20
1925	May 25
1927	Apr 24
1928	Apr 28
1929	May 19
1930	May 17
1931	May 22
1932	Apr 27
1933	May 5
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 4
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 11
1938	Apr 22
1939	Apr 19
1940	May 3
1941	Apr 25
1942	May 16
1943	May 1
1944	May 7
1945	May 18
1946	May 12
1947	May 29
1948	Apr 14
1949	Apr 19
1950	May 1
1951	May 11
1952	Apr 16
1953	May 13
1954	May 20
1955	May 8
1956	Apr 30
1957	May 4
1958	May 5
1959	Apr 22
1960	May 8
1961	May 3
1962	Apr 20
1963	May 24
1964	Apr 19
1965	May 29
1966	May 14
1967	May 22
1968	May 5
1969	May 12
1970	May 2
1971	May 9
1972	Apr 26
1973	May 15
1974	May 6
1975	Apr 22
1976	May 3
1977	Apr 26
1978	May 6
1979	May 12
1980	May 9
1981	May 10
1982	Apr 28
1983	Apr 24
1984	Apr 24
1985	Apr 15
1986	Apr 23
1987	Apr 8
1988	Apr 24
1989	May 8
1990	May 2
1991	Apr 21
1992	May 7
1993	Apr 22
1994	May 3
1995	Apr 26
1996	Apr 27
1997	May 16
1998	Apr 5
1999	Apr 19
2000	Apr 26
2001	Apr 19
2002	May 3
2003	Apr 22
2004	May 4
2005	May 5
2006	May 6
2007	Apr 16
2008	Apr 30
2009	Apr 16
2010	May 10
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 21
2013	May 13
2014	Apr 19
2015	Apr 24
2016	Apr 13
2017	Apr 29
2018	Apr 30
2019	May 3
2020	May 12
2021	May 12
2022	Apr 27
2023	May 3
2024	Apr 21
2025	Apr 17
2026	May 11

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1894	120
1895	138
1896	163
1897	111
1898	152
1899	156
1901	148
1903	158
1904	167
1905	164
1906	146
1907	127
1908	147
1909	142
1910	170
1911	152
1913	132
1916	149
1917	152
1918	142
1919	175
1921	139
1922	165
1923	127
1924	132
1925	134
1927	172
1928	149
1929	121
1930	152
1931	147
1932	154
1933	159
1934	152
1936	181
1937	179
1938	183
1939	163
1940	145
1941	153
1942	130
1943	141
1944	154
1945	133
1946	139
1947	123
1948	185
1949	162
1950	154
1951	139
1952	169
1953	165
1954	150
1955	162
1956	152
1957	158
1958	148
1959	169
1960	160
1961	147
1962	152
1963	156
1964	161
1965	135
1966	124
1967	129
1969	154
1970	160
1971	150
1972	156
1973	157
1974	138
1975	155
1976	155
1977	162
1978	154
1979	145
1980	139
1981	144
1982	175
1983	151
1984	154
1985	168
1986	165
1987	177
1988	162
1989	137
1990	161
1991	151
1992	144
1993	162
1994	159
1995	148
1996	158
1997	150
1998	185
1999	167
2000	162
2001	169
2002	143
2003	159
2004	150
2005	155
2006	158
2007	151
2008	168
2009	176
2010	145
2011	149
2012	154
2013	159
2014	174
2015	175
2016	182
2017	180
2018	167
2019	161
2020	144
2021	163
2022	163
2023	160
2024	176
2025	188

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1894	18.9 °C
1895	18.4 °C
1896	17.6 °C
1897	17.4 °C
1898	17.4 °C
1899	17.5 °C
1901	18.8 °C
1904	16.5 °C
1905	17.6 °C
1906	19.1 °C
1907	16.1 °C
1908	18.3 °C
1909	17.6 °C
1910	18.3 °C
1911	19.1 °C
1913	19.6 °C
1916	18.4 °C
1917	17.0 °C
1918	18.7 °C
1919	19.3 °C
1921	20.0 °C
1922	18.9 °C
1923	18.3 °C
1924	16.4 °C
1925	18.6 °C
1927	17.2 °C
1928	17.1 °C
1929	17.6 °C
1930	18.9 °C
1931	19.1 °C
1932	18.1 °C
1933	19.1 °C
1934	19.9 °C
1936	19.9 °C
1937	18.8 °C
1938	18.7 °C
1939	19.1 °C
1940	17.9 °C
1941	19.2 °C
1942	17.6 °C
1943	17.0 °C
1944	17.4 °C
1945	15.9 °C
1946	16.9 °C
1947	17.9 °C
1948	19.0 °C
1949	18.4 °C
1950	16.1 °C
1951	16.2 °C
1952	17.9 °C
1953	17.4 °C
1954	17.9 °C
1955	19.6 °C
1956	17.6 °C
1957	17.6 °C
1958	17.3 °C
1959	17.8 °C
1960	17.3 °C
1961	16.3 °C
1963	17.5 °C
1964	17.2 °C
1965	16.3 °C
1966	15.7 °C
1967	16.6 °C
1968	17.3 °C
1969	17.0 °C
1970	17.8 °C
1971	17.2 °C
1972	17.0 °C
1973	17.1 °C
1974	16.5 °C
1975	16.8 °C
1976	17.2 °C
1977	18.7 °C
1978	17.6 °C
1979	16.7 °C
1980	18.0 °C
1981	17.3 °C
1982	16.5 °C
1983	17.3 °C
1984	16.7 °C
1985	17.3 °C
1986	17.7 °C
1987	18.6 °C
1988	18.7 °C
1989	16.9 °C
1990	17.5 °C
1991	18.6 °C
1992	15.9 °C
1993	16.1 °C
1994	17.3 °C
1995	17.3 °C
1996	16.4 °C
1997	16.6 °C
1998	18.8 °C
1999	17.9 °C
2000	17.9 °C
2001	17.9 °C
2002	17.9 °C
2003	17.5 °C
2004	17.0 °C
2005	18.5 °C
2006	18.1 °C
2007	18.3 °C
2008	17.0 °C
2009	16.6 °C
2010	18.8 °C
2011	17.6 °C
2012	19.1 °C
2014	17.0 °C
2015	18.0 °C
2016	18.3 °C
2017	17.7 °C
2018	17.9 °C
2019	17.5 °C
2020	17.3 °C
2021	18.3 °C
2022	17.4 °C
2023	18.3 °C
2024	18.1 °C
2025	18.0 °C
2026	18.6 °C

What this means for you: Since 1894, Dike's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. The frost-free season has grown by about 1 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

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

Nearby towns

Hudson Reinbeck Grundy Center Cedar Falls Parkersburg Waterloo