When to plant in Pocahontas, IA

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

Safe to plant out

May 7

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 26

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 2

1 year in 10 by Sep 20

Frost-free days

159

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Pocahontas · 0.9 km away · station 369 m, town 372 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Pocahontas plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 12 – Mar 26	May 7 – May 21	Jul 1
Sweet pepper	Feb 26 – Mar 12	May 7 – May 21	Jul 6
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 28 – Mar 7	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 14
Peas	—	Apr 4 – May 2	May 29
Bush beans	—	Apr 30 – May 21	Jun 19
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 9 – Apr 16	May 7 – May 21	Jun 26
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 9 – Apr 16	May 7 – May 21	Jun 21
Winter squash	Apr 9 – Apr 16	May 7 – May 21	Jul 26
Sweet corn	—	Apr 30 – May 21	Jun 29
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 4 – Apr 25	Jul 3
Garlic	—	Sep 18 – Oct 16 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 4 – May 2	May 12
Basil	Mar 26 – Apr 9	May 7 – May 21	Jul 3

Plan all 65 crops for Pocahontas

Pocahontas'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
1905	Apr 30
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	May 15
1915	May 17
1916	May 2
1917	May 6
1918	May 1
1919	May 2
1920	May 14
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 20
1923	May 9
1924	May 25
1925	May 25
1926	May 21
1927	Apr 24
1928	May 12
1929	May 19
1930	May 17
1931	May 22
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 27
1935	May 5
1936	Apr 22
1937	May 14
1938	May 8
1939	Apr 22
1940	May 3
1941	Apr 24
1942	Apr 20
1943	May 8
1944	May 6
1945	Jun 3
1946	May 12
1947	May 29
1948	Apr 14
1950	May 7
1951	Apr 26
1952	Apr 24
1953	May 13
1954	May 8
1955	Apr 7
1956	May 4
1957	May 4
1958	Apr 29
1959	Apr 21
1960	May 8
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 19
1963	May 22
1964	Apr 13
1965	Apr 28
1966	May 10
1967	May 6
1968	May 15
1969	Apr 28
1970	May 2
1971	May 12
1972	Apr 25
1973	Apr 28
1974	May 6
1975	Apr 21
1976	May 8
1977	Apr 8
1978	May 7
1979	May 12
1980	May 9
1984	May 9
1985	Apr 15
1986	May 2
1987	Apr 7
1988	Apr 27
1989	May 7
1990	May 3
1991	Apr 11
1992	May 6
1993	Apr 20
1994	May 2
1995	Apr 28
1996	Apr 30
1997	May 15
1998	Apr 6
1999	Apr 19
2000	Apr 13
2001	Apr 24
2002	May 2
2003	Apr 11
2004	May 3
2005	May 4
2006	May 6
2007	Apr 14
2008	Apr 29
2009	Apr 21
2010	May 9
2011	May 3
2012	Apr 17
2013	May 4
2015	Apr 22
2016	Apr 13
2017	Apr 29
2018	Apr 21
2019	Apr 28
2020	May 9
2021	Apr 25
2022	May 4
2023	Apr 26
2024	Apr 22
2025	Apr 16

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1905	164
1906	151
1907	120
1908	147
1909	153
1910	161
1911	157
1912	150
1913	147
1914	162
1915	140
1916	135
1917	154
1918	141
1919	161
1920	138
1921	140
1922	171
1923	162
1924	125
1925	134
1926	126
1927	172
1928	133
1929	121
1930	152
1931	163
1932	160
1933	167
1934	141
1935	144
1936	181
1937	146
1938	164
1939	155
1940	144
1941	157
1942	156
1943	131
1944	155
1945	117
1947	114
1948	178
1950	148
1951	154
1952	151
1953	131
1954	136
1955	190
1956	148
1957	158
1958	154
1959	170
1960	160
1961	148
1962	153
1963	159
1964	178
1965	167
1966	143
1967	144
1968	141
1969	168
1970	159
1971	134
1972	157
1973	170
1974	138
1975	156
1976	150
1977	177
1978	153
1980	139
1984	139
1986	156
1987	178
1988	159
1989	138
1990	159
1991	160
1992	145
1993	160
1994	162
1995	146
1996	155
1997	152
1998	184
1999	154
2000	160
2001	164
2002	144
2003	172
2004	151
2005	156
2006	136
2007	153
2008	169
2009	168
2010	145
2011	142
2012	158
2015	178
2016	182
2017	180
2018	173
2019	168
2020	147
2021	179
2022	146
2023	166
2024	175

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1905	17.4 °C
1906	18.1 °C
1907	15.8 °C
1908	17.0 °C
1909	16.4 °C
1910	16.9 °C
1911	18.3 °C
1912	16.8 °C
1913	18.0 °C
1914	18.2 °C
1915	16.4 °C
1916	17.4 °C
1917	16.3 °C
1918	17.7 °C
1919	18.2 °C
1920	16.9 °C
1921	19.3 °C
1922	18.6 °C
1923	18.0 °C
1924	15.9 °C
1925	18.9 °C
1926	18.0 °C
1927	16.6 °C
1928	16.8 °C
1929	17.3 °C
1930	18.8 °C
1931	19.6 °C
1932	18.6 °C
1933	19.0 °C
1934	19.1 °C
1935	17.6 °C
1936	19.8 °C
1937	18.6 °C
1938	18.5 °C
1939	18.9 °C
1940	17.8 °C
1941	19.5 °C
1942	17.8 °C
1943	17.5 °C
1944	17.6 °C
1945	15.9 °C
1947	17.6 °C
1948	18.5 °C
1950	16.1 °C
1951	16.2 °C
1952	17.9 °C
1953	17.8 °C
1954	18.4 °C
1955	20.7 °C
1956	18.4 °C
1957	18.0 °C
1958	17.8 °C
1959	18.7 °C
1960	18.0 °C
1961	17.2 °C
1962	17.8 °C
1963	19.0 °C
1964	18.4 °C
1965	17.6 °C
1966	17.1 °C
1967	16.9 °C
1968	17.9 °C
1969	18.1 °C
1970	18.6 °C
1971	18.2 °C
1972	17.0 °C
1973	17.4 °C
1974	16.8 °C
1975	17.1 °C
1976	17.8 °C
1977	19.1 °C
1978	17.9 °C
1984	16.5 °C
1985	17.1 °C
1986	17.9 °C
1987	19.2 °C
1988	19.2 °C
1989	17.6 °C
1990	17.7 °C
1991	18.5 °C
1992	16.0 °C
1993	16.3 °C
1994	17.4 °C
1995	16.6 °C
1996	16.1 °C
1997	16.7 °C
1998	18.6 °C
1999	17.5 °C
2000	17.8 °C
2001	17.8 °C
2002	18.3 °C
2003	17.7 °C
2004	17.5 °C
2005	19.1 °C
2006	18.6 °C
2007	18.8 °C
2008	17.4 °C
2009	17.1 °C
2011	17.9 °C
2012	19.4 °C
2015	18.2 °C
2016	18.4 °C
2017	18.2 °C
2018	18.0 °C
2019	17.5 °C
2020	18.0 °C
2021	18.4 °C
2022	17.4 °C
2023	18.2 °C
2024	18.6 °C

What this means for you: Since 1905, Pocahontas's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. 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 Pocahontas (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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