When to plant in Pittston, ME

Planting dates worked out from Pittston'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 5

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 10

1 year in 10 by Sep 29

Frost-free days

157

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Gardiner · 2.7 km away · station 40 m, town 25 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

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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)	Mar 11 – Mar 18	Apr 15 – Apr 29	May 25
Peas	—	Apr 15 – May 13	Jun 9
Bush beans	—	May 9 – May 30	Jun 28
Carrot	—	Apr 24 – Jun 5	Jun 23
Beet	—	Apr 24 – Jun 5	Jun 13
Potato	—	Apr 24 – May 15	Jul 3
Kale	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 22 – May 6	Jun 4
Broccoli	Mar 4 – Mar 18	Apr 15 – May 6	Jun 14
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 15 – May 6	Jul 14
Garlic	—	Sep 26 – Oct 24 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 15 – May 13	May 23
Basil	Apr 4 – Apr 18	May 16 – May 30	Jul 12

Plan all 65 crops for Pittston

Pittston'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
1887	Apr 28
1888	May 4
1889	Apr 23
1893	Apr 27
1894	Apr 30
1895	May 14
1896	May 8
1897	Apr 22
1898	May 10
1899	Apr 22
1900	May 12
1901	Apr 27
1902	May 12
1903	May 24
1904	May 2
1905	Apr 29
1906	May 21
1907	May 26
1908	May 7
1909	May 1
1910	May 7
1911	May 6
1912	May 21
1913	May 17
1914	May 16
1915	Jun 3
1916	Apr 25
1917	May 8
1918	May 5
1919	May 16
1920	May 6
1921	May 11
1922	May 1
1923	Apr 21
1924	May 23
1925	May 19
1926	May 21
1927	May 10
1928	May 15
1929	May 14
1930	May 12
1931	May 18
1932	May 24
1933	Jun 2
1934	May 17
1935	May 23
1936	May 22
1937	Apr 30
1938	May 5
1939	May 17
1940	May 11
1941	May 14
1942	May 12
1943	May 16
1944	Jun 4
1945	Jun 2
1946	May 9
1947	May 31
1948	May 16
1950	May 8
1951	May 19
1952	May 15
1953	May 3
1954	Apr 29
1955	May 1
1956	May 29
1957	May 19
1958	May 3
1959	May 18
1960	May 3
1961	May 20
1962	May 13
1963	May 25
1964	May 21
1965	May 15
1966	May 14
1967	Jun 1
1968	May 8
1969	May 27
1970	Apr 30
1971	May 2
1972	May 11
1975	May 9
1976	May 5
1977	May 12
1978	May 6
1979	May 9
1980	May 5
1981	May 18
1982	May 6
1983	May 18
1984	May 18
1985	May 15
1986	May 10
1987	May 9
1988	Apr 23
1989	Apr 29
1990	May 4
1991	Apr 26
1992	May 26
1993	Apr 29
1994	May 4
1995	May 8
1996	May 16
1997	May 9
1998	May 13
1999	May 12
2000	May 3
2001	May 7
2002	May 20
2003	May 5
2004	May 8
2005	May 13
2006	May 1
2007	May 7
2008	Apr 16
2009	Apr 21
2010	May 11
2011	Apr 23
2012	Apr 30
2013	Apr 26
2014	Apr 21
2015	Apr 21
2016	Apr 30
2017	Apr 20
2018	Jun 10
2019	Apr 29
2020	May 10
2021	Apr 23
2022	May 12
2023	Jun 4
2024	Apr 28

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1887	167
1888	149
1889	176
1893	172
1894	168
1895	148
1897	163
1898	152
1899	162
1900	159
1901	162
1902	151
1903	123
1904	142
1905	150
1906	132
1907	135
1908	135
1909	169
1910	158
1911	130
1912	140
1913	120
1914	135
1915	119
1916	167
1917	137
1918	155
1919	137
1920	158
1921	156
1922	147
1923	146
1924	124
1925	126
1926	132
1927	150
1928	134
1929	128
1930	142
1931	144
1932	129
1933	133
1934	137
1935	134
1936	126
1937	155
1938	154
1939	132
1940	138
1941	128
1942	139
1943	125
1944	111
1945	120
1946	126
1947	111
1948	122
1950	136
1951	133
1952	145
1953	143
1954	161
1955	135
1956	112
1957	128
1958	152
1959	120
1960	151
1961	132
1962	130
1963	111
1964	117
1965	107
1966	129
1967	128
1968	150
1969	140
1970	158
1971	159
1975	146
1976	142
1977	147
1978	143
1980	142
1981	139
1982	156
1983	134
1984	140
1985	149
1986	150
1987	139
1988	166
1989	148
1990	169
1991	164
1992	128
1993	154
1994	160
1995	143
1996	140
1997	155
1998	145
1999	148
2000	148
2001	153
2002	141
2003	154
2004	150
2005	160
2006	158
2007	162
2008	184
2009	157
2010	160
2012	165
2013	182
2014	192
2015	179
2016	167
2017	179
2018	125
2019	158
2020	132
2021	188
2022	144
2023	149
2024	171

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1887	14.6 °C
1888	14.1 °C
1889	16.2 °C
1893	14.9 °C
1894	16.0 °C
1895	16.4 °C
1896	15.9 °C
1897	15.8 °C
1898	16.2 °C
1899	16.0 °C
1900	16.0 °C
1901	16.6 °C
1902	14.9 °C
1903	14.9 °C
1904	15.0 °C
1905	14.7 °C
1906	14.7 °C
1907	14.0 °C
1908	15.8 °C
1909	14.8 °C
1910	15.4 °C
1911	15.5 °C
1912	14.5 °C
1913	14.6 °C
1914	14.0 °C
1915	13.4 °C
1916	15.3 °C
1917	14.4 °C
1918	15.5 °C
1919	15.5 °C
1920	13.9 °C
1921	14.5 °C
1922	14.5 °C
1923	15.1 °C
1924	14.6 °C
1925	14.9 °C
1926	13.9 °C
1927	14.2 °C
1928	14.1 °C
1929	15.0 °C
1930	15.6 °C
1931	16.0 °C
1932	15.5 °C
1933	15.1 °C
1934	14.9 °C
1936	15.1 °C
1937	16.8 °C
1938	16.0 °C
1939	15.3 °C
1940	14.3 °C
1941	15.8 °C
1942	15.3 °C
1943	14.1 °C
1944	15.0 °C
1945	15.3 °C
1946	14.2 °C
1947	14.6 °C
1948	14.1 °C
1950	14.7 °C
1951	15.6 °C
1952	16.0 °C
1953	15.4 °C
1954	14.4 °C
1955	16.1 °C
1956	13.4 °C
1957	14.9 °C
1958	14.1 °C
1959	15.1 °C
1960	15.0 °C
1961	15.1 °C
1962	13.8 °C
1963	14.2 °C
1964	14.1 °C
1965	14.5 °C
1966	14.1 °C
1967	14.1 °C
1969	14.7 °C
1970	15.5 °C
1971	15.4 °C
1975	15.5 °C
1976	15.5 °C
1977	15.2 °C
1978	15.0 °C
1980	15.3 °C
1981	15.6 °C
1982	13.9 °C
1983	15.4 °C
1984	15.2 °C
1985	14.7 °C
1986	14.4 °C
1987	15.0 °C
1988	15.7 °C
1989	15.4 °C
1990	15.3 °C
1991	16.1 °C
1992	14.6 °C
1993	15.3 °C
1994	15.5 °C
1995	15.3 °C
1996	15.2 °C
1997	14.6 °C
1998	16.2 °C
1999	16.8 °C
2000	14.3 °C
2001	15.7 °C
2002	15.4 °C
2003	14.9 °C
2004	14.9 °C
2005	15.4 °C
2006	15.8 °C
2007	14.9 °C
2008	15.8 °C
2009	14.9 °C
2010	16.4 °C
2011	16.0 °C
2012	16.6 °C
2013	16.1 °C
2014	15.9 °C
2015	16.4 °C
2016	16.4 °C
2017	16.2 °C
2018	15.7 °C
2019	15.4 °C
2020	16.0 °C
2021	16.4 °C
2022	15.9 °C
2024	16.5 °C

What this means for you: Since 1887, Pittston'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 Gardiner (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Randolph Gardiner Farmingdale Chelsea Hallowell Augusta