When to plant in Ida Grove, IA

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

Safe to plant out

May 16

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 2

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 2

1 year in 10 by Sep 17

Frost-free days

152

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Mapleton No.2 · 29.1 km away · station 360 m, town 376 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Ida Grove plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 16 – May 30	Jul 10
Sweet pepper	Mar 7 – Mar 21	May 16 – May 30	Jul 15
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 28 – Mar 7	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 14
Peas	—	Mar 30 – Apr 27	May 24
Bush beans	—	May 9 – May 30	Jun 28
Carrot	—	Apr 11 – May 23	Jun 10
Beet	—	Apr 9 – May 21	May 29
Potato	—	Apr 11 – May 2	Jun 20
Kale	Feb 23 – Mar 9	Apr 6 – Apr 20	May 19
Broccoli	Feb 21 – Mar 7	Apr 4 – Apr 25	Jun 3
Cucumber	Apr 18 – Apr 25	May 16 – May 30	Jul 5
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 18 – Apr 25	May 16 – May 30	Jun 30
Winter squash	Apr 18 – Apr 25	May 16 – May 30	Aug 4
Sweet corn	—	May 9 – May 30	Jul 8
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 4 – Apr 25	Jul 3
Garlic	—	Sep 18 – Oct 16 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 30 – Apr 27	May 7
Basil	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 16 – May 30	Jul 12

Plan all 65 crops for Ida Grove

Ida Grove'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
1938	May 8
1939	Apr 21
1940	May 1
1941	Apr 24
1942	May 4
1943	Apr 28
1944	May 7
1945	May 10
1946	May 12
1947	May 29
1949	Apr 24
1950	May 1
1951	Apr 26
1952	Apr 16
1953	May 13
1954	May 10
1955	Apr 8
1956	May 4
1957	May 5
1958	Apr 29
1959	May 15
1960	May 12
1961	May 9
1962	Apr 19
1963	May 23
1964	Apr 9
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 9
1967	May 9
1968	May 12
1969	May 12
1970	May 2
1971	May 3
1972	Apr 25
1973	May 17
1974	Apr 23
1975	Apr 20
1976	May 8
1977	Apr 6
1978	May 3
1979	May 4
1980	May 9
1981	May 11
1983	May 15
1984	May 1
1985	Apr 9
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 12
1988	Apr 28
1989	May 7
1990	May 3
1991	Apr 21
1992	May 6
1993	May 20
1994	May 1
1995	May 2
1997	May 13
1998	Apr 18
1999	Apr 18
2002	May 19
2003	Apr 22
2004	May 15
2005	May 5
2006	Apr 28
2007	Apr 15
2008	May 4
2009	Apr 28
2010	May 9
2011	May 6
2012	Apr 24
2013	May 13
2014	May 17
2015	Apr 27
2016	Apr 13
2017	May 1
2018	Apr 23
2019	May 10
2020	May 11
2021	May 6
2022	May 22
2024	Apr 25
2025	Apr 19
2026	May 7

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1938	167
1939	161
1940	133
1941	157
1942	138
1943	144
1944	154
1945	141
1946	139
1947	152
1949	157
1950	154
1951	154
1952	171
1953	131
1954	134
1955	155
1956	148
1957	165
1958	151
1959	146
1960	156
1961	141
1962	153
1963	157
1964	182
1965	148
1966	144
1967	141
1968	144
1969	148
1970	159
1971	159
1972	157
1973	164
1974	151
1975	155
1976	143
1977	182
1978	156
1979	153
1980	139
1981	129
1983	128
1984	147
1985	174
1986	166
1987	173
1988	158
1989	138
1990	159
1991	150
1992	145
1993	117
1994	176
1995	142
1997	153
1998	186
1999	155
2002	128
2003	159
2004	139
2005	146
2006	144
2007	152
2008	164
2009	158
2010	146
2012	151
2013	152
2014	118
2015	171
2016	182
2017	162
2018	170
2019	154
2020	143
2021	168
2022	138
2024	164
2025	185

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1938	19.4 °C
1939	20.3 °C
1940	18.7 °C
1941	19.8 °C
1942	18.4 °C
1943	18.3 °C
1944	17.8 °C
1945	16.9 °C
1946	18.0 °C
1947	18.3 °C
1948	19.8 °C
1949	18.7 °C
1950	16.8 °C
1951	16.5 °C
1952	18.1 °C
1953	17.7 °C
1954	18.1 °C
1955	20.1 °C
1956	18.6 °C
1957	18.0 °C
1958	17.9 °C
1959	18.4 °C
1960	17.9 °C
1961	16.9 °C
1962	17.8 °C
1963	19.4 °C
1964	18.7 °C
1965	18.1 °C
1966	17.7 °C
1967	17.4 °C
1968	18.2 °C
1969	18.4 °C
1970	19.3 °C
1971	18.4 °C
1972	17.9 °C
1973	18.4 °C
1974	17.9 °C
1975	18.1 °C
1976	19.2 °C
1977	20.0 °C
1978	18.8 °C
1979	18.1 °C
1980	19.5 °C
1981	19.2 °C
1983	18.4 °C
1984	18.2 °C
1985	19.0 °C
1986	19.0 °C
1987	19.7 °C
1988	20.6 °C
1989	19.1 °C
1990	18.6 °C
1991	19.5 °C
1992	17.1 °C
1993	17.5 °C
1994	18.6 °C
1997	18.0 °C
1998	19.6 °C
1999	18.7 °C
2002	18.5 °C
2003	17.5 °C
2004	17.6 °C
2005	19.1 °C
2006	18.9 °C
2007	18.9 °C
2008	17.2 °C
2009	17.0 °C
2010	19.1 °C
2012	19.2 °C
2013	16.9 °C
2014	16.9 °C
2015	17.6 °C
2016	18.4 °C
2017	17.7 °C
2018	18.1 °C
2019	17.7 °C
2020	18.0 °C
2021	18.4 °C
2022	18.1 °C
2024	17.8 °C
2025	18.6 °C
2026	19.3 °C

What this means for you: Since 1938, Ida Grove'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 Mapleton No.2 (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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