When to plant in Carl Junction, MO

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 18

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 8

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 27

1 year in 10 by Oct 14

Frost-free days

202

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Joplin Rgnl Ap · 6.8 km away · station 296 m, town 273 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	Feb 21 – Mar 7	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 12
Sweet pepper	Feb 7 – Feb 21	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 17
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 4 – Feb 11	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 20
Peas	—	Feb 26 – Mar 26	Apr 22
Bush beans	—	Apr 11 – May 2	May 31
Carrot	—	Mar 18 – Apr 29	May 17
Beet	—	Mar 11 – Apr 22	Apr 30
Potato	—	Mar 18 – Apr 8	May 27
Kale	Jan 28 – Feb 11	Mar 11 – Mar 25	Apr 23
Broccoli	Jan 28 – Feb 11	Mar 11 – Apr 1	May 10
Cucumber	Mar 21 – Mar 28	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 7
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 21 – Mar 28	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 2
Winter squash	Mar 21 – Mar 28	Apr 18 – May 2	Jul 7
Sweet corn	—	Apr 11 – May 2	Jun 10
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 11 – Apr 1	Jun 9
Garlic	—	Oct 13 – Nov 10 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 26 – Mar 26	Apr 5
Basil	Mar 7 – Mar 21	Apr 18 – May 2	Jun 14

Plan all 65 crops for Carl Junction

Carl Junction'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
1948	Apr 14
1949	Apr 16
1950	Apr 14
1951	Apr 16
1952	Apr 10
1953	Apr 20
1954	Apr 1
1955	Mar 29
1956	Apr 17
1957	Apr 14
1958	Mar 31
1959	Apr 12
1960	May 1
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 13
1963	May 1
1964	Apr 9
1965	Mar 27
1966	Apr 21
1967	Mar 21
1968	Apr 5
1969	Mar 30
1970	Apr 5
1971	Apr 7
1972	Apr 4
1973	Apr 11
1974	Mar 25
1975	Apr 12
1976	May 3
1977	Mar 31
1978	Apr 21
1979	Apr 9
1980	Mar 21
1981	Mar 23
1982	Apr 22
1983	Apr 15
1984	Mar 30
1985	Apr 2
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 5
1988	Apr 19
1989	Apr 11
1990	Apr 12
1991	Mar 30
1992	Apr 3
1993	Mar 18
1994	Apr 7
1995	Mar 30
1996	Apr 6
1997	Apr 14
1998	Apr 5
1999	Mar 26
2000	Apr 8
2001	Apr 18
2002	Apr 5
2003	Apr 10
2004	Apr 13
2005	May 3
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 15
2008	Apr 14
2009	Apr 11
2010	Mar 29
2011	Apr 5
2012	Mar 10
2013	May 3
2014	Apr 15
2015	Apr 4
2016	Apr 2
2017	Apr 7
2018	Apr 19
2019	Apr 12
2020	Apr 18
2021	Apr 22
2022	Apr 14
2023	Apr 23
2024	Mar 28

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1948	186
1949	197
1950	203
1951	197
1952	179
1953	199
1954	211
1955	217
1956	204
1957	193
1958	209
1959	206
1960	170
1961	170
1962	194
1963	180
1964	193
1965	198
1966	177
1967	226
1968	202
1969	210
1970	193
1971	212
1972	197
1973	207
1974	225
1975	214
1976	166
1977	194
1978	199
1979	183
1980	217
1981	213
1982	181
1983	208
1984	183
1985	181
1986	175
1987	180
1988	210
1989	165
1990	191
1991	213
1992	214
1993	222
1994	200
1995	204
1996	209
1997	203
1998	214
1999	210
2000	181
2001	190
2002	191
2003	209
2004	205
2005	173
2006	195
2007	204
2008	195
2009	189
2010	213
2011	197
2012	210
2013	174
2014	198
2015	222
2016	230
2017	202
2018	184
2019	182
2020	190
2021	195
2022	186
2023	189
2024	201

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1948	22.4 °C
1949	21.7 °C
1950	19.9 °C
1951	20.8 °C
1952	22.9 °C
1953	22.9 °C
1954	24.7 °C
1955	22.9 °C
1956	22.9 °C
1957	21.9 °C
1958	21.8 °C
1959	22.3 °C
1960	21.4 °C
1961	21.0 °C
1962	22.4 °C
1963	23.0 °C
1964	21.7 °C
1965	22.7 °C
1966	20.7 °C
1967	20.4 °C
1968	20.9 °C
1969	22.2 °C
1970	22.5 °C
1971	22.1 °C
1972	22.4 °C
1973	21.2 °C
1974	20.6 °C
1975	21.3 °C
1976	19.9 °C
1977	22.6 °C
1978	22.9 °C
1979	21.4 °C
1980	24.0 °C
1981	22.4 °C
1982	22.0 °C
1983	22.0 °C
1984	21.8 °C
1985	22.2 °C
1986	22.8 °C
1987	22.7 °C
1988	22.3 °C
1989	20.7 °C
1990	21.7 °C
1991	22.6 °C
1992	20.1 °C
1993	21.4 °C
1994	21.8 °C
1995	21.6 °C
1996	21.9 °C
1997	21.1 °C
1998	23.1 °C
1999	21.7 °C
2000	22.4 °C
2001	23.1 °C
2002	22.8 °C
2003	22.1 °C
2004	21.7 °C
2005	22.9 °C
2006	23.2 °C
2007	22.5 °C
2008	21.6 °C
2009	20.9 °C
2010	23.3 °C
2011	23.4 °C
2012	23.6 °C
2013	21.3 °C
2014	21.6 °C
2015	22.4 °C
2016	22.6 °C
2017	22.4 °C
2018	22.7 °C
2019	22.4 °C
2020	21.6 °C
2021	22.2 °C
2022	23.4 °C
2023	22.9 °C
2024	23.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1948, Carl Junction'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 Joplin Rgnl Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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