When to plant in Big Rapids, MI

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

Safe to plant out

May 27

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 14

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Sep 30

1 year in 10 by Sep 22

Frost-free days

143

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Big Rapids Wtp · 1.0 km away · station 274 m, town 284 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Apr 1 – Apr 15	May 27 – Jun 10	Jul 21
Sweet pepper	Mar 18 – Apr 1	May 27 – Jun 10	Jul 26
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 12 – Mar 19	Apr 16 – Apr 30	May 26
Peas	—	Apr 13 – May 11	Jun 7
Bush beans	—	May 20 – Jun 10	Jul 9
Carrot	—	Apr 23 – Jun 4	Jun 22
Beet	—	Apr 22 – Jun 3	Jun 11
Potato	—	Apr 23 – May 14	Jul 2
Kale	Mar 9 – Mar 23	Apr 20 – May 4	Jun 2
Broccoli	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 16 – May 7	Jun 15
Cucumber	Apr 29 – May 6	May 27 – Jun 10	Jul 16
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 29 – May 6	May 27 – Jun 10	Jul 11
Winter squash	Apr 29 – May 6	May 27 – Jun 10	Aug 15
Sweet corn	—	May 20 – Jun 10	Jul 19
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 16 – May 7	Jul 15
Garlic	—	Sep 16 – Oct 14 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Apr 13 – May 11	May 21
Basil	Apr 15 – Apr 29	May 27 – Jun 10	Jul 23

Plan all 65 crops for Big Rapids

Big Rapids'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
1897	Jun 8
1898	Jul 11
1899	May 21
1900	May 10
1901	Jun 9
1902	May 29
1903	May 8
1904	May 18
1905	May 26
1906	May 29
1907	May 28
1908	May 5
1909	May 11
1910	May 15
1911	May 13
1912	May 1
1913	May 11
1914	May 15
1915	May 27
1916	May 2
1917	May 23
1918	May 11
1919	May 3
1920	May 15
1921	May 16
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 13
1924	May 20
1925	May 26
1926	May 23
1927	May 20
1928	May 16
1929	May 10
1930	May 31
1931	May 24
1932	May 2
1933	May 10
1934	May 25
1935	May 23
1936	May 20
1937	May 15
1938	May 13
1939	May 18
1940	May 18
1941	May 18
1942	May 18
1943	May 14
1944	May 10
1945	Jun 5
1946	May 13
1947	May 11
1948	May 8
1949	Jun 8
1950	May 11
1951	May 13
1952	May 16
1953	May 15
1954	May 21
1955	May 17
1956	May 24
1957	May 16
1958	Jun 6
1959	May 9
1960	May 1
1961	May 30
1962	May 9
1963	May 24
1964	May 29
1965	May 30
1966	Jun 1
1967	May 22
1968	May 18
1969	May 26
1970	May 18
1971	May 22
1972	Jun 11
1973	May 18
1974	May 10
1975	May 7
1976	May 24
1977	May 11
1978	May 3
1979	May 22
1980	Jun 10
1981	May 18
1982	Apr 29
1983	May 17
1984	May 16
1985	May 22
1986	May 4
1987	May 5
1988	May 25
1989	Jun 17
1990	May 11
1991	May 8
1993	May 19
1994	May 27
1995	May 19
1997	May 22
1998	Apr 29
1999	Apr 30
2000	May 15
2001	May 13
2002	May 22
2003	May 31
2004	May 5
2005	May 17
2006	May 21
2007	Apr 20
2008	May 28
2009	May 18
2010	May 11
2011	May 27
2012	Apr 30
2014	May 17
2015	May 21
2016	May 16
2017	May 10
2018	May 1
2019	May 15
2020	May 14
2021	May 30
2022	May 9
2024	Apr 27
2025	May 10
2026	May 11

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1897	104
1898	61
1899	115
1900	130
1901	100
1902	107
1903	142
1904	103
1905	122
1906	124
1907	120
1908	120
1909	113
1910	139
1911	144
1912	148
1913	125
1914	133
1915	124
1916	139
1917	133
1918	138
1919	145
1921	149
1922	166
1923	144
1924	153
1925	135
1926	125
1927	140
1928	132
1929	131
1930	122
1931	137
1932	145
1933	148
1934	128
1935	109
1936	127
1937	124
1938	141
1939	134
1940	130
1941	145
1942	127
1943	119
1944	135
1945	116
1946	112
1947	134
1948	147
1949	112
1950	135
1951	138
1952	130
1953	144
1954	124
1955	116
1956	118
1957	133
1958	120
1959	129
1960	152
1961	120
1962	119
1963	112
1964	105
1965	118
1966	106
1967	111
1968	139
1969	141
1970	133
1971	140
1972	119
1973	152
1975	129
1976	122
1977	145
1978	147
1979	123
1980	108
1981	127
1982	121
1983	129
1984	133
1985	125
1986	125
1987	148
1988	130
1989	89
1990	128
1991	135
1993	127
1994	127
1997	124
1998	146
1999	144
2000	64
2002	143
2003	121
2004	146
2005	143
2006	129
2007	174
2008	126
2009	135
2010	145
2011	127
2012	158
2014	144
2015	149
2016	146
2017	144
2018	167
2019	152
2020	127
2021	146
2022	146
2024	162
2025	151

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1896	16.7 °C
1897	15.4 °C
1898	15.6 °C
1899	15.7 °C
1900	16.5 °C
1901	16.3 °C
1902	14.6 °C
1903	14.8 °C
1904	14.5 °C
1905	14.8 °C
1906	16.4 °C
1907	13.7 °C
1908	16.2 °C
1909	15.0 °C
1910	15.2 °C
1911	16.2 °C
1912	15.6 °C
1913	16.8 °C
1914	16.2 °C
1915	15.2 °C
1916	16.1 °C
1917	13.7 °C
1918	15.4 °C
1919	16.4 °C
1920	15.4 °C
1921	18.6 °C
1922	16.6 °C
1923	15.4 °C
1924	13.6 °C
1925	15.9 °C
1926	14.6 °C
1927	14.7 °C
1928	14.5 °C
1929	14.8 °C
1930	16.1 °C
1931	16.3 °C
1932	15.0 °C
1933	15.9 °C
1934	15.3 °C
1935	14.4 °C
1936	15.6 °C
1937	15.6 °C
1938	16.1 °C
1939	16.7 °C
1940	15.6 °C
1941	17.4 °C
1942	16.6 °C
1943	15.7 °C
1944	16.6 °C
1946	15.8 °C
1948	16.8 °C
1949	16.9 °C
1950	14.9 °C
1951	15.7 °C
1952	16.9 °C
1953	16.2 °C
1954	16.0 °C
1955	17.5 °C
1956	14.5 °C
1957	15.2 °C
1958	14.8 °C
1959	16.9 °C
1960	15.8 °C
1961	14.8 °C
1962	15.0 °C
1963	15.1 °C
1964	15.8 °C
1965	14.6 °C
1966	14.2 °C
1967	12.7 °C
1968	15.6 °C
1969	15.7 °C
1970	16.3 °C
1971	15.8 °C
1972	15.2 °C
1973	16.0 °C
1975	15.4 °C
1976	15.6 °C
1977	16.6 °C
1978	15.6 °C
1979	15.1 °C
1980	15.8 °C
1981	15.4 °C
1982	15.2 °C
1983	15.6 °C
1984	15.7 °C
1985	15.6 °C
1986	15.5 °C
1988	16.9 °C
1989	14.9 °C
1991	16.5 °C
1993	15.2 °C
1994	15.7 °C
1997	14.6 °C
1998	17.5 °C
1999	16.8 °C
2000	15.4 °C
2001	16.6 °C
2002	16.2 °C
2003	14.9 °C
2004	15.4 °C
2005	16.7 °C
2006	15.9 °C
2007	16.1 °C
2008	15.4 °C
2009	14.4 °C
2010	16.7 °C
2011	15.8 °C
2012	16.3 °C
2014	14.8 °C
2015	15.7 °C
2016	15.9 °C
2017	15.7 °C
2018	15.8 °C
2019	15.2 °C
2020	15.5 °C
2021	16.2 °C
2022	15.4 °C
2023	15.4 °C
2024	16.3 °C
2025	15.9 °C
2026	16.3 °C

What this means for you: Since 1897, Big Rapids'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 Big Rapids Wtp (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

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