When to plant in Fulton, MO

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 23

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 12

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 21

1 year in 10 by Oct 7

Frost-free days

190

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Fulton · 0.6 km away · station 235 m, town 233 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 26 – Mar 12	Apr 23 – May 7	Jun 17
Sweet pepper	Feb 12 – Feb 26	Apr 23 – May 7	Jun 22
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 9 – Feb 16	Mar 16 – Mar 30	Apr 25
Peas	—	Mar 16 – Apr 13	May 10
Bush beans	—	Apr 16 – May 7	Jun 5
Carrot	—	Mar 25 – May 6	May 24
Beet	—	Mar 25 – May 6	May 14
Potato	—	Mar 25 – Apr 15	Jun 3
Kale	Feb 9 – Feb 23	Mar 23 – Apr 6	May 5
Broccoli	Feb 2 – Feb 16	Mar 16 – Apr 6	May 15
Cucumber	Mar 26 – Apr 2	Apr 23 – May 7	Jun 12
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 26 – Apr 2	Apr 23 – May 7	Jun 7
Winter squash	Mar 26 – Apr 2	Apr 23 – May 7	Jul 12
Sweet corn	—	Apr 16 – May 7	Jun 15
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 16 – Apr 6	Jun 14
Garlic	—	Oct 7 – Nov 4 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 16 – Apr 13	Apr 23
Basil	Mar 12 – Mar 26	Apr 23 – May 7	Jun 19

Plan all 65 crops for Fulton

Fulton'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
1900	Apr 11
1901	Apr 21
1902	Apr 16
1903	May 4
1904	Apr 21
1905	Apr 19
1906	May 9
1907	May 4
1909	May 1
1910	Apr 25
1912	Apr 19
1915	Apr 4
1917	May 8
1918	Apr 13
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 28
1921	Apr 18
1922	Apr 18
1923	Apr 18
1924	Apr 2
1926	Apr 19
1927	Apr 22
1928	Apr 28
1929	Mar 18
1930	Apr 25
1931	Apr 23
1932	Apr 27
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 28
1935	Apr 16
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 10
1938	Apr 10
1939	Apr 13
1940	Apr 13
1941	Apr 6
1943	Apr 21
1944	May 6
1945	Apr 5
1946	Apr 12
1947	Mar 30
1948	Apr 9
1949	Apr 19
1950	May 6
1952	Apr 15
1953	Apr 27
1954	May 4
1955	Mar 30
1956	Apr 30
1957	Apr 14
1958	Mar 29
1959	Apr 15
1960	May 1
1961	Apr 18
1962	Apr 17
1963	Apr 24
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 16
1966	May 11
1967	Apr 25
1968	Apr 7
1969	Apr 7
1970	Apr 6
1971	Apr 7
1972	Apr 9
1973	Apr 13
1974	Apr 15
1976	May 4
1977	Apr 6
1979	Apr 10
1980	Apr 14
1981	Apr 6
1982	Apr 21
1983	Apr 20
1984	Apr 1
1985	Apr 9
1986	Apr 22
1987	Apr 5
1988	Apr 19
1989	Apr 14
1990	Apr 13
1991	Mar 30
1992	Apr 4
1993	Apr 22
1994	Apr 8
1995	Apr 6
1996	Apr 11
1997	Apr 18
1998	Apr 3
1999	Mar 27
2000	Apr 13
2001	Apr 18
2002	Apr 6
2003	Apr 11
2005	Apr 24
2006	Apr 9
2007	Apr 16
2008	Apr 29
2009	Apr 11
2010	Apr 9
2011	May 4
2012	Apr 12
2013	Apr 20
2014	Apr 16
2015	Apr 4

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1900	188
1901	165
1902	180
1903	166
1904	184
1905	175
1906	153
1907	160
1910	179
1917	150
1918	201
1919	173
1920	183
1921	172
1922	182
1923	185
1924	180
1926	187
1927	174
1928	150
1929	228
1930	173
1931	191
1932	161
1933	180
1934	182
1935	170
1936	183
1937	186
1938	196
1939	170
1940	165
1943	178
1944	182
1945	212
1946	182
1947	222
1948	191
1949	163
1950	181
1952	173
1953	184
1954	178
1955	207
1956	191
1957	194
1958	221
1959	185
1960	171
1961	190
1962	189
1963	187
1964	181
1965	190
1966	158
1967	168
1968	200
1969	189
1970	208
1971	206
1973	199
1976	164
1979	177
1980	173
1981	199
1982	182
1983	198
1984	213
1985	208
1986	174
1987	180
1988	189
1989	187
1990	180
1991	190
1992	195
1993	170
1994	200
1995	169
1996	190
1997	186
1998	216
1999	204
2000	176
2001	181
2002	190
2003	208
2005	184
2006	186
2007	194
2008	181
2009	189
2010	202
2011	169
2012	177
2013	184
2014	198
2015	217

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1900	21.0 °C
1901	21.4 °C
1902	20.1 °C
1903	20.1 °C
1904	19.2 °C
1905	20.7 °C
1906	21.5 °C
1907	19.3 °C
1914	22.0 °C
1915	19.6 °C
1917	19.4 °C
1918	21.1 °C
1921	22.1 °C
1922	22.4 °C
1923	20.7 °C
1924	19.0 °C
1926	20.5 °C
1927	19.7 °C
1928	19.4 °C
1929	20.5 °C
1930	21.8 °C
1931	20.9 °C
1932	20.9 °C
1933	21.9 °C
1934	22.4 °C
1935	19.8 °C
1936	23.0 °C
1937	21.9 °C
1938	22.3 °C
1939	21.6 °C
1940	20.4 °C
1941	22.2 °C
1943	20.8 °C
1944	21.2 °C
1945	19.9 °C
1946	20.6 °C
1947	20.9 °C
1948	20.9 °C
1949	19.8 °C
1950	18.4 °C
1952	20.8 °C
1953	21.2 °C
1954	22.7 °C
1955	21.7 °C
1956	21.2 °C
1957	20.3 °C
1958	20.1 °C
1959	21.1 °C
1960	20.6 °C
1961	18.9 °C
1962	20.6 °C
1963	20.8 °C
1964	21.0 °C
1965	20.4 °C
1966	19.1 °C
1967	18.9 °C
1968	19.6 °C
1969	19.8 °C
1970	20.3 °C
1971	20.1 °C
1972	20.1 °C
1973	20.4 °C
1977	21.9 °C
1978	20.7 °C
1979	19.6 °C
1980	21.6 °C
1981	20.1 °C
1982	19.0 °C
1983	19.9 °C
1984	19.4 °C
1985	19.7 °C
1986	21.1 °C
1987	21.5 °C
1988	20.5 °C
1989	18.6 °C
1990	19.4 °C
1991	20.9 °C
1992	18.5 °C
1993	19.3 °C
1994	19.3 °C
1995	19.1 °C
1996	19.1 °C
1997	18.9 °C
1998	20.9 °C
1999	20.2 °C
2000	20.1 °C
2001	20.8 °C
2002	20.6 °C
2003	19.8 °C
2005	21.1 °C
2006	20.7 °C
2007	21.1 °C
2008	19.8 °C
2009	18.7 °C
2010	20.4 °C
2011	20.2 °C
2012	20.7 °C
2013	18.7 °C
2014	19.0 °C
2015	20.2 °C

What this means for you: Since 1900, Fulton's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. The frost-free season has grown by about 2 days per decade. Year-to-year swings are large, so keep using the safe date rather than the trend.

Source: daily records from Fulton (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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