When to plant in Portales, NM

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

Safe to plant out

May 2

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 18

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 20

1 year in 10 by Oct 10

Frost-free days

182

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Portales · 2.1 km away · station 1222 m, town 1221 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	Mar 7 – Mar 21	May 2 – May 16	Jun 26
Sweet pepper	Feb 21 – Mar 7	May 2 – May 16	Jul 1
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 14 – Feb 21	Mar 21 – Apr 4	Apr 30
Peas	—	Mar 7 – Apr 4	May 1
Bush beans	—	Apr 25 – May 16	Jun 14
Carrot	—	Mar 28 – May 9	May 27
Beet	—	Mar 21 – May 2	May 10
Potato	—	Mar 28 – Apr 18	Jun 6
Kale	Feb 7 – Feb 21	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 3
Broccoli	Feb 7 – Feb 21	Mar 21 – Apr 11	May 20
Cucumber	Apr 4 – Apr 11	May 2 – May 16	Jun 21
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 4 – Apr 11	May 2 – May 16	Jun 16
Winter squash	Apr 4 – Apr 11	May 2 – May 16	Jul 21
Sweet corn	—	Apr 25 – May 16	Jun 24
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 21 – Apr 11	Jun 19
Garlic	—	Oct 6 – Nov 3 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 7 – Apr 4	Apr 14
Basil	Mar 21 – Apr 4	May 2 – May 16	Jun 28

Plan all 65 crops for Portales

Portales'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
1905	Apr 5
1906	Apr 4
1912	May 3
1915	May 7
1916	Apr 15
1917	May 7
1918	Apr 21
1919	Apr 10
1920	Apr 27
1921	Apr 28
1922	Apr 19
1924	Apr 27
1925	Apr 9
1926	Apr 15
1927	Apr 22
1928	Apr 27
1929	May 2
1932	Apr 27
1933	May 5
1934	Mar 27
1935	May 4
1936	Apr 22
1937	Apr 25
1938	May 8
1939	Apr 18
1940	Apr 19
1941	Mar 27
1942	Apr 9
1943	May 16
1945	Apr 24
1946	Apr 16
1947	Apr 26
1948	Apr 9
1949	Apr 12
1950	Apr 25
1951	Apr 16
1952	May 19
1954	May 3
1955	Apr 20
1957	Apr 14
1958	Apr 14
1959	Apr 14
1960	May 7
1961	Apr 16
1962	May 1
1963	Apr 23
1964	May 9
1965	May 9
1966	Apr 20
1967	May 15
1969	Apr 19
1970	May 2
1971	Apr 14
1972	Apr 21
1973	Apr 27
1974	Apr 22
1976	Apr 3
1977	Apr 5
1978	Apr 11
1979	Apr 13
1980	Apr 27
1981	May 14
1982	Apr 27
1983	Apr 18
1984	May 8
1985	Apr 5
1987	Apr 22
1988	Apr 14
1989	Apr 28
1990	Apr 6
1991	May 1
1992	Apr 3
1993	Apr 15
1994	Apr 12
1995	Apr 27
1996	Apr 20
1997	Apr 27
1998	Apr 29
1999	Apr 17
2000	Apr 8
2001	Apr 25
2002	Apr 4
2003	Apr 20
2004	Apr 13
2005	Apr 13
2006	Mar 29
2007	Apr 14
2010	Apr 8
2011	May 3
2012	Apr 4
2013	May 3
2014	May 14
2015	Apr 29
2017	Apr 5
2018	Apr 15
2019	Apr 14
2020	Apr 17
2021	Apr 21
2022	Apr 14
2023	Apr 29
2024	Apr 10
2025	Apr 30
2026	Apr 28

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1905	188
1915	180
1916	186
1917	157
1918	187
1919	204
1920	167
1921	180
1922	181
1924	153
1925	191
1926	201
1927	172
1928	177
1929	173
1932	159
1933	182
1934	214
1935	171
1936	158
1937	176
1938	164
1939	192
1940	178
1941	216
1942	170
1943	151
1945	157
1946	191
1947	180
1948	190
1949	195
1950	192
1951	173
1952	139
1954	164
1955	169
1957	195
1958	190
1959	186
1960	176
1961	169
1962	180
1963	192
1964	157
1965	144
1966	177
1967	153
1969	176
1971	199
1972	192
1973	183
1974	175
1976	187
1977	210
1978	209
1979	191
1980	174
1981	164
1982	168
1983	155
1984	163
1985	209
1987	200
1988	200
1989	172
1990	197
1992	187
1993	188
1995	175
1996	180
1997	180
1998	171
1999	164
2000	169
2001	173
2002	208
2003	188
2004	183
2005	201
2006	207
2007	191
2010	202
2011	168
2012	204
2013	168
2014	152
2017	204
2018	182
2019	179
2020	189
2021	177
2022	210
2023	182
2024	203
2025	171

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1905	20.8 °C
1906	20.6 °C
1912	20.0 °C
1914	21.4 °C
1915	19.9 °C
1916	20.6 °C
1917	20.5 °C
1918	21.0 °C
1919	20.1 °C
1920	20.3 °C
1921	20.5 °C
1922	21.3 °C
1925	21.5 °C
1926	20.6 °C
1927	21.7 °C
1928	20.6 °C
1932	20.8 °C
1933	21.5 °C
1934	22.9 °C
1935	20.8 °C
1936	21.4 °C
1937	21.9 °C
1938	21.3 °C
1939	21.5 °C
1940	21.7 °C
1941	19.6 °C
1942	19.6 °C
1943	20.6 °C
1946	21.6 °C
1948	22.0 °C
1949	20.6 °C
1950	20.8 °C
1951	21.5 °C
1952	21.5 °C
1954	21.9 °C
1955	21.0 °C
1957	20.9 °C
1958	21.8 °C
1959	21.6 °C
1960	21.5 °C
1961	20.9 °C
1962	21.9 °C
1963	22.3 °C
1964	22.1 °C
1965	21.6 °C
1966	21.8 °C
1967	21.9 °C
1969	22.4 °C
1971	20.8 °C
1972	21.0 °C
1973	20.0 °C
1974	21.5 °C
1976	21.0 °C
1977	22.7 °C
1978	22.1 °C
1979	20.9 °C
1980	22.3 °C
1981	22.0 °C
1982	21.5 °C
1983	21.3 °C
1984	21.0 °C
1985	21.7 °C
1986	22.1 °C
1987	20.3 °C
1988	20.0 °C
1989	21.0 °C
1991	21.4 °C
1992	21.3 °C
1993	21.8 °C
1994	22.5 °C
1995	21.7 °C
1996	22.4 °C
1997	21.4 °C
1998	22.7 °C
1999	21.2 °C
2000	23.3 °C
2001	22.8 °C
2002	22.9 °C
2003	22.3 °C
2004	21.2 °C
2005	21.8 °C
2006	22.6 °C
2007	21.1 °C
2008	21.5 °C
2009	21.9 °C
2010	22.8 °C
2011	24.4 °C
2012	23.9 °C
2013	22.4 °C
2014	22.0 °C
2015	22.6 °C
2017	22.3 °C
2018	23.0 °C
2019	23.2 °C
2020	23.4 °C
2021	22.1 °C
2022	23.7 °C
2023	23.5 °C
2024	23.5 °C
2025	22.4 °C

What this means for you: Since 1905, Portales'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 Portales (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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