When to plant in Charlotte, NC

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 16

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Mar 29

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Nov 2

1 year in 10 by Oct 19

Frost-free days

215

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Charlotte Douglas Ap · 10.1 km away · station 222 m, town 229 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	Feb 19 – Mar 5	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 10
Sweet pepper	Feb 5 – Feb 19	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 15
Lettuce (leaf)	Jan 25 – Feb 1	Mar 1 – Mar 15	Apr 10
Peas	—	Feb 15 – Mar 15	Apr 11
Bush beans	—	Apr 9 – Apr 30	May 29
Carrot	—	Mar 8 – Apr 19	May 7
Beet	—	Mar 1 – Apr 12	Apr 20
Potato	—	Mar 8 – Mar 29	May 17
Kale	Jan 18 – Feb 1	Mar 1 – Mar 15	Apr 13
Broccoli	Jan 18 – Feb 1	Mar 1 – Mar 22	Apr 30
Cucumber	Mar 19 – Mar 26	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 5
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 19 – Mar 26	Apr 16 – Apr 30	May 31
Winter squash	Mar 19 – Mar 26	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jul 5
Sweet corn	—	Apr 9 – Apr 30	Jun 8
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 1 – Mar 22	May 30
Garlic	—	Oct 19 – Nov 16 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 15 – Mar 15	Mar 25
Basil	Mar 5 – Mar 19	Apr 16 – Apr 30	Jun 12

Plan all 65 crops for Charlotte

Charlotte'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
1940	Apr 13
1941	Mar 30
1944	Apr 6
1945	Apr 7
1946	Mar 11
1947	Mar 29
1948	Mar 29
1949	Apr 17
1950	Apr 16
1951	Mar 25
1952	Mar 17
1953	Apr 21
1954	Mar 22
1955	Mar 31
1956	Apr 21
1957	Mar 21
1958	Mar 22
1959	Mar 19
1960	Apr 11
1961	Apr 14
1962	Apr 16
1963	May 2
1964	Mar 31
1965	Mar 22
1966	Mar 30
1967	Mar 23
1968	Mar 25
1969	Mar 28
1970	Apr 7
1971	Apr 3
1972	Apr 9
1973	Apr 12
1974	Apr 10
1975	Apr 5
1976	Apr 10
1977	Apr 6
1978	Mar 28
1979	Mar 26
1980	Mar 15
1981	Mar 25
1982	Apr 10
1983	Apr 21
1984	Mar 14
1985	Apr 10
1986	Mar 23
1987	Apr 1
1988	Mar 17
1989	Apr 12
1990	Mar 21
1991	Mar 11
1992	Apr 3
1993	Mar 20
1994	Mar 17
1995	Mar 11
1996	Apr 10
1997	Feb 18
1998	Mar 13
1999	Mar 28
2000	Apr 5
2001	Apr 19
2002	Apr 7
2003	Mar 31
2004	Apr 6
2005	Apr 25
2006	Apr 10
2007	Apr 10
2008	Apr 16
2009	Mar 22
2010	Mar 27
2011	Apr 6
2012	Mar 11
2013	Mar 29
2014	Apr 16
2015	Mar 29
2016	Mar 3
2017	Mar 20
2018	Apr 17
2019	Apr 3
2020	Mar 8
2021	Apr 23
2022	Apr 10
2023	Mar 21
2024	Mar 19

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1940	207
1941	223
1944	214
1945	211
1946	247
1947	241
1948	203
1949	200
1950	203
1951	223
1952	217
1953	198
1954	222
1955	217
1956	211
1957	221
1958	251
1959	243
1960	210
1961	196
1962	192
1963	181
1964	203
1965	216
1966	217
1967	210
1968	215
1969	209
1970	222
1971	218
1972	193
1973	211
1974	192
1975	222
1976	194
1977	218
1978	256
1979	233
1980	248
1981	232
1982	209
1983	197
1984	237
1985	235
1986	234
1987	204
1988	259
1989	218
1990	253
1991	238
1992	225
1993	226
1994	251
1995	238
1996	206
1997	270
1998	223
1999	209
2000	186
2001	181
2002	208
2003	223
2004	217
2005	186
2006	186
2007	210
2008	186
2009	210
2010	224
2011	205
2012	240
2013	208
2014	199
2015	230
2016	252
2017	223
2018	207
2019	213
2020	239
2021	195
2022	191
2023	225
2024	254

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1940	21.7 °C
1941	23.2 °C
1944	22.7 °C
1945	22.5 °C
1946	21.9 °C
1947	22.4 °C
1948	22.7 °C
1949	22.1 °C
1950	22.0 °C
1951	22.6 °C
1952	22.7 °C
1953	22.9 °C
1954	23.3 °C
1955	23.6 °C
1956	22.5 °C
1957	23.2 °C
1958	22.8 °C
1959	23.2 °C
1960	22.9 °C
1961	21.0 °C
1962	22.5 °C
1963	22.4 °C
1964	22.1 °C
1965	22.8 °C
1966	21.9 °C
1967	20.9 °C
1968	21.6 °C
1969	22.2 °C
1970	22.8 °C
1971	21.6 °C
1972	21.2 °C
1973	21.8 °C
1974	21.3 °C
1975	22.1 °C
1976	21.1 °C
1977	23.4 °C
1978	22.6 °C
1979	21.6 °C
1980	22.8 °C
1981	22.2 °C
1982	22.0 °C
1983	21.8 °C
1984	21.2 °C
1985	21.9 °C
1986	23.9 °C
1987	23.5 °C
1988	22.7 °C
1989	22.5 °C
1990	23.3 °C
1991	23.9 °C
1992	22.2 °C
1993	23.8 °C
1994	22.9 °C
1995	22.6 °C
1996	22.4 °C
1997	22.1 °C
1998	23.7 °C
1999	21.9 °C
2000	21.6 °C
2001	22.1 °C
2002	22.8 °C
2003	21.3 °C
2004	22.1 °C
2005	22.2 °C
2006	22.1 °C
2007	22.8 °C
2008	22.3 °C
2009	22.3 °C
2010	24.1 °C
2011	23.4 °C
2012	22.8 °C
2013	22.1 °C
2014	22.4 °C
2015	23.8 °C
2016	23.9 °C
2017	23.2 °C
2018	24.0 °C
2019	24.2 °C
2020	22.6 °C
2021	22.9 °C
2022	23.5 °C
2023	22.9 °C
2024	24.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1940, Charlotte'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 Charlotte Douglas Ap (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

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