When to plant in Fayetteville, NC

Planting dates worked out from Fayetteville'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 25
about a 50% chance of a later one
Average first fall frost
Nov 9
1 year in 10 by Oct 30
Frost-free days
230
median, 1991–2020

Station used: Fayetteville (Pwc) · 1.9 km away · station 29 m, town 29 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

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Planting dates for common crops

CropStart indoorsPlant out or sowHarvest 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 21 – Jan 28 Feb 25 – Mar 11 Apr 6
Peas — Feb 11 – Mar 11 Apr 7
Bush beans — Apr 9 – Apr 30 May 29
Carrot — Mar 4 – Apr 15 May 3
Beet — Feb 25 – Apr 8 Apr 16
Potato — Mar 4 – Mar 25 May 13
Kale Jan 14 – Jan 28 Feb 25 – Mar 11 Apr 9
Broccoli Jan 14 – Jan 28 Feb 25 – Mar 18 Apr 26
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) — Feb 25 – Mar 18 May 26
Garlic — Oct 26 – Nov 23 (fall) following summer
Spinach — Feb 11 – Mar 11 Mar 21
Basil Mar 5 – Mar 19 Apr 16 – Apr 30 Jun 12

Plan all 65 crops for Fayetteville

Fayetteville's weather over time

How the growing season has shifted here, year by year, from the station's own records.

Mar 1Mar 15Apr 1Apr 15 1900191019201930194019501960197019801990200020102020
Each year's last spring frostLong-term trend
See the data as a table
YearLast spring frost
1900Apr 5
1901Mar 17
1902Apr 2
1904Apr 21
1905Apr 18
1906Mar 25
1907Apr 15
1908Apr 4
1909Mar 24
1910Mar 16
1911Mar 26
1912Mar 11
1913Mar 28
1914Apr 10
1915Apr 5
1916Mar 18
1917Mar 19
1918Apr 6
1919Apr 26
1920Apr 6
1921Apr 12
1922Mar 23
1923Apr 10
1924Apr 3
1925Mar 4
1926Apr 20
1927Mar 5
1928Mar 22
1929Mar 18
1930Mar 23
1931Mar 21
1932Mar 25
1933Mar 30
1934Apr 13
1936Apr 5
1937Mar 28
1938Mar 2
1939Apr 14
1940Apr 14
1941Mar 30
1942Apr 1
1943Apr 16
1944Apr 5
1945Mar 23
1949Mar 20
1950Apr 16
1951Mar 27
1952Apr 8
1953Apr 21
1954Mar 23
1955Mar 31
1956Apr 21
1957Apr 16
1958Apr 2
1959Mar 30
1960Apr 11
1961Apr 8
1962Apr 17
1963Mar 24
1964Apr 2
1965Apr 3
1966Apr 11
1967Mar 23
1968Mar 26
1969Apr 1
1970Mar 28
1971Mar 31
1972Apr 10
1973Apr 12
1974Apr 7
1975Mar 10
1976Apr 13
1977Mar 8
1978Mar 18
1979Mar 17
1980Mar 19
1981Mar 26
1982Apr 7
1983Apr 21
1984Mar 13
1985Apr 10
1986Mar 24
1987Apr 1
1988Mar 23
1989Apr 13
1990Mar 22
1991Mar 13
1992Apr 4
1993Mar 21
1994Mar 14
1995Apr 15
1996Apr 10
1997Apr 11
1998Mar 14
1999Mar 17
2000Mar 15
2001Apr 20
2002Apr 8
2003Mar 9
2004Mar 25
2005Apr 17
2006Mar 24
2007Apr 11
2008Feb 27
2009Apr 23
2010Mar 9
2011Apr 2
2012Mar 12
2013Mar 30
2015Mar 31
2017Mar 21
2018Mar 16
2019Mar 8
2020Mar 2
2021Apr 4
2022Mar 29
2023Mar 21
2024Feb 23
2025Mar 7
2026Mar 29

What this means for you: Since 1900, Fayetteville's last spring frost has come about 1 day earlier per decade, on average. 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 Fayetteville (Pwc) (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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