When to plant in Heathcote, NJ

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

Safe to plant out

May 14

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 24

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 17

1 year in 10 by Oct 4

Frost-free days

174

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Hightstown 2 W · 13.6 km away · station 30 m, town 52 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Heathcote plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 19 – Apr 2	May 14 – May 28	Jul 8
Sweet pepper	Mar 5 – Mar 19	May 14 – May 28	Jul 13
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 20 – Feb 27	Mar 27 – Apr 10	May 6
Peas	—	Mar 22 – Apr 19	May 16
Bush beans	—	May 7 – May 28	Jun 26
Carrot	—	Apr 3 – May 15	Jun 2
Beet	—	Apr 2 – May 14	May 22
Potato	—	Apr 3 – Apr 24	Jun 12
Kale	Feb 15 – Mar 1	Mar 29 – Apr 12	May 11
Broccoli	Feb 13 – Feb 27	Mar 27 – Apr 17	May 26
Cucumber	Apr 16 – Apr 23	May 14 – May 28	Jul 3
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 16 – Apr 23	May 14 – May 28	Jun 28
Winter squash	Apr 16 – Apr 23	May 14 – May 28	Aug 2
Sweet corn	—	May 7 – May 28	Jul 6
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 27 – Apr 17	Jun 25
Garlic	—	Oct 3 – Oct 31 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 22 – Apr 19	Apr 29
Basil	Apr 2 – Apr 16	May 14 – May 28	Jul 10

Plan all 65 crops for Heathcote

Heathcote'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
1893	Apr 7
1894	Apr 10
1895	Apr 18
1896	Apr 11
1897	Apr 21
1898	Apr 9
1899	Apr 11
1900	May 11
1901	Mar 31
1902	Apr 15
1903	May 3
1904	Apr 23
1905	May 2
1907	May 12
1908	Apr 21
1909	Apr 25
1910	May 6
1911	May 4
1912	Apr 20
1913	May 12
1915	Apr 8
1916	Apr 16
1917	May 4
1919	Apr 26
1920	Apr 18
1921	Apr 12
1922	Apr 29
1923	May 11
1924	May 5
1925	Apr 22
1927	Apr 25
1928	Apr 27
1929	May 23
1930	Apr 24
1933	Apr 27
1935	Apr 17
1936	Apr 25
1937	Apr 13
1938	Apr 24
1939	May 15
1940	Apr 29
1941	May 3
1942	Apr 14
1943	Apr 23
1944	Apr 14
1945	Apr 23
1946	Apr 28
1947	May 10
1948	Apr 29
1949	Apr 29
1950	Apr 22
1951	Apr 21
1952	Apr 12
1953	Apr 22
1954	Apr 10
1955	Apr 8
1956	May 25
1957	May 4
1958	Apr 10
1959	Apr 24
1960	Apr 20
1961	Apr 20
1962	Apr 18
1963	May 24
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 25
1966	May 11
1967	Apr 26
1968	Apr 7
1969	Apr 13
1970	May 7
1971	Apr 17
1972	Apr 28
1973	Apr 15
1974	May 8
1975	Apr 22
1976	Apr 13
1977	Apr 10
1978	May 5
1979	Apr 21
1980	Apr 18
1981	Apr 22
1982	Apr 23
1983	May 10
1984	Apr 22
1985	May 9
1986	May 4
1987	Apr 14
1988	Apr 26
1989	Apr 24
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 13
1992	Apr 29
1993	Apr 28
1994	Apr 23
1995	Apr 17
1996	May 14
1997	Apr 21
1998	Apr 13
1999	Apr 25
2000	May 1
2001	Apr 29
2002	May 21
2003	Apr 14
2004	Apr 16
2005	Apr 17
2006	Apr 30
2007	Apr 11
2008	Apr 16
2009	Apr 17
2010	May 11
2011	Mar 31
2012	Apr 30
2013	May 14
2014	Apr 22
2015	Apr 26
2016	Apr 17
2017	Apr 10
2018	Apr 23
2019	Apr 3
2020	May 14
2021	Apr 4
2022	May 1
2023	Apr 11
2024	Apr 26
2025	Apr 10
2026	Apr 21

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1893	205
1894	189
1895	174
1896	180
1897	179
1898	216
1899	173
1900	186
1901	208
1902	189
1903	176
1904	187
1905	172
1907	155
1908	164
1909	170
1910	159
1911	177
1915	185
1916	181
1917	155
1919	169
1920	194
1921	194
1922	172
1923	148
1927	183
1928	182
1929	138
1930	160
1933	181
1935	170
1936	184
1937	178
1938	166
1939	153
1940	172
1941	166
1942	168
1943	165
1944	184
1945	163
1946	198
1947	139
1948	169
1949	181
1950	187
1951	161
1952	190
1953	168
1954	180
1955	197
1956	138
1957	146
1958	178
1959	177
1960	183
1961	190
1962	189
1963	122
1964	178
1965	163
1966	168
1967	179
1968	181
1969	192
1970	165
1971	201
1972	165
1973	200
1974	147
1975	191
1976	181
1977	196
1978	163
1979	172
1980	187
1981	170
1982	170
1983	164
1984	167
1985	172
1986	167
1987	177
1988	165
1989	168
1990	183
1991	183
1992	159
1993	155
1994	171
1995	201
1996	142
1997	163
1998	192
1999	165
2000	160
2001	162
2002	160
2003	171
2004	201
2005	192
2006	165
2007	200
2008	186
2009	184
2010	173
2011	210
2012	165
2013	164
2014	180
2015	174
2016	176
2017	189
2018	178
2019	198
2020	156
2021	212
2022	170
2023	204
2024	184
2025	199

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1893	17.7 °C
1894	19.5 °C
1895	19.9 °C
1896	19.9 °C
1897	18.7 °C
1898	19.5 °C
1899	19.6 °C
1900	19.9 °C
1901	18.8 °C
1902	18.4 °C
1903	18.2 °C
1904	18.3 °C
1905	17.7 °C
1906	18.7 °C
1907	17.1 °C
1908	19.1 °C
1909	18.3 °C
1910	18.9 °C
1911	19.1 °C
1912	18.9 °C
1914	19.1 °C
1915	18.5 °C
1919	18.8 °C
1920	18.0 °C
1921	19.6 °C
1922	18.7 °C
1923	17.9 °C
1927	17.4 °C
1928	18.1 °C
1929	18.5 °C
1930	19.1 °C
1933	19.5 °C
1935	18.5 °C
1936	18.9 °C
1937	18.8 °C
1938	18.7 °C
1939	18.8 °C
1940	17.5 °C
1941	19.1 °C
1942	19.3 °C
1943	18.9 °C
1944	19.4 °C
1945	18.9 °C
1946	18.2 °C
1947	18.6 °C
1948	18.6 °C
1949	19.3 °C
1950	17.5 °C
1951	18.7 °C
1952	19.4 °C
1953	19.3 °C
1954	18.7 °C
1955	19.7 °C
1956	17.9 °C
1957	19.6 °C
1958	18.5 °C
1959	20.1 °C
1960	19.2 °C
1961	19.1 °C
1962	18.3 °C
1963	18.2 °C
1964	18.6 °C
1965	18.8 °C
1966	18.4 °C
1967	18.0 °C
1968	18.9 °C
1969	19.2 °C
1970	19.3 °C
1971	18.7 °C
1972	18.4 °C
1973	19.4 °C
1974	18.4 °C
1975	18.3 °C
1976	18.8 °C
1977	19.3 °C
1978	18.1 °C
1979	18.4 °C
1980	19.7 °C
1981	19.0 °C
1982	18.0 °C
1983	19.0 °C
1984	18.3 °C
1985	18.9 °C
1986	18.7 °C
1987	18.8 °C
1988	18.7 °C
1989	18.2 °C
1990	18.2 °C
1991	19.5 °C
1992	17.4 °C
1993	19.0 °C
1994	19.0 °C
1995	18.7 °C
1996	18.3 °C
1997	17.6 °C
1998	19.5 °C
1999	19.4 °C
2000	18.3 °C
2001	19.1 °C
2002	19.6 °C
2003	18.4 °C
2004	19.3 °C
2005	19.6 °C
2006	19.1 °C
2007	19.1 °C
2008	19.2 °C
2009	18.5 °C
2010	21.0 °C
2011	20.4 °C
2012	19.7 °C
2013	18.9 °C
2014	18.5 °C
2015	19.7 °C
2016	19.5 °C
2017	19.0 °C
2018	19.6 °C
2019	19.7 °C
2020	18.9 °C
2021	20.0 °C
2022	20.1 °C
2023	19.6 °C
2024	20.3 °C
2025	19.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1893, Heathcote'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 Hightstown 2 W (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Monmouth Junction Ten Mile Run Kingston Kendall Park Dayton Princeton Meadows