When to plant in Mount Sterling, OH

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

Safe to plant out

May 5

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 22

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 22

1 year in 10 by Oct 14

Frost-free days

179

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Washington Court House · 24.6 km away · station 292 m, town 275 m. How we match towns to stations

This season

Plan your garden.

Build my Mount Sterling plan

Planting dates for common crops

Crop	Start indoors	Plant out or sow	Harvest from
Tomato	Mar 10 – Mar 24	May 5 – May 19	Jun 29
Sweet pepper	Feb 24 – Mar 10	May 5 – May 19	Jul 4
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 18 – Feb 25	Mar 25 – Apr 8	May 4
Peas	—	Mar 22 – Apr 19	May 16
Bush beans	—	Apr 28 – May 19	Jun 17
Carrot	—	Apr 1 – May 13	May 31
Beet	—	Mar 31 – May 12	May 20
Potato	—	Apr 1 – Apr 22	Jun 10
Kale	Feb 15 – Mar 1	Mar 29 – Apr 12	May 11
Broccoli	Feb 11 – Feb 25	Mar 25 – Apr 15	May 24
Cucumber	Apr 7 – Apr 14	May 5 – May 19	Jun 24
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 7 – Apr 14	May 5 – May 19	Jun 19
Winter squash	Apr 7 – Apr 14	May 5 – May 19	Jul 24
Sweet corn	—	Apr 28 – May 19	Jun 27
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 25 – Apr 15	Jun 23
Garlic	—	Oct 8 – Nov 5 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 22 – Apr 19	Apr 29
Basil	Mar 24 – Apr 7	May 5 – May 19	Jul 1

Plan all 65 crops for Mount Sterling

Mount Sterling'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
1916	Apr 10
1917	May 10
1918	Apr 25
1919	Apr 27
1920	Apr 14
1927	Apr 25
1928	May 8
1929	Apr 23
1930	Apr 26
1931	Apr 30
1932	Apr 28
1933	Apr 27
1934	Apr 29
1935	May 1
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 16
1938	May 13
1939	May 3
1940	May 5
1941	Apr 25
1942	Apr 22
1943	May 1
1944	Apr 13
1945	May 11
1946	Apr 28
1947	May 10
1948	Apr 17
1949	Apr 25
1950	Apr 22
1951	Apr 23
1952	Apr 11
1953	Apr 21
1954	May 10
1955	Apr 8
1956	May 5
1957	May 6
1958	Apr 30
1959	May 16
1960	Apr 11
1961	May 2
1962	Apr 24
1963	May 2
1964	Apr 10
1965	Apr 4
1966	May 10
1967	Apr 28
1968	May 6
1969	Apr 20
1970	Apr 11
1971	May 1
1972	Apr 26
1973	Apr 14
1974	May 7
1975	Apr 21
1976	Apr 29
1977	Apr 29
1978	May 1
1979	Apr 10
1980	May 9
1981	Apr 21
1982	Apr 28
1983	Apr 25
1984	Apr 11
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 24
1987	Apr 9
1988	Apr 20
1989	May 7
1990	Apr 18
1991	Apr 11
1992	Apr 13
1993	Apr 27
1994	May 2
1995	Apr 15
1996	Apr 27
1997	Apr 26
1998	Apr 11
1999	Apr 24
2012	Apr 12
2014	Apr 17
2015	Apr 25
2016	May 16
2017	Apr 9
2018	Apr 29
2019	Apr 3
2020	May 10
2021	Apr 22
2022	Apr 20
2023	Apr 26
2024	Apr 23
2025	Apr 13
2026	May 3

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1916	158
1917	144
1918	149
1919	189
1920	197
1927	172
1928	138
1929	174
1930	174
1931	170
1932	182
1933	169
1934	167
1935	151
1936	186
1937	174
1938	146
1939	162
1940	164
1941	168
1942	155
1943	168
1944	185
1945	145
1946	155
1947	135
1948	183
1949	157
1950	155
1951	168
1952	178
1953	169
1954	164
1955	199
1956	187
1957	166
1958	181
1959	154
1960	192
1961	165
1962	182
1963	180
1964	178
1965	183
1966	166
1967	174
1968	151
1969	180
1970	188
1971	186
1972	176
1973	203
1974	148
1975	164
1976	171
1977	170
1978	175
1979	186
1980	149
1981	181
1982	171
1983	192
1985	224
1986	192
1987	177
1989	154
1990	190
1991	179
1993	165
1994	175
1995	184
1996	174
1997	177
1998	194
1999	179
2014	198
2015	174
2016	179
2017	199
2018	171
2019	211
2020	159
2021	194
2022	171
2023	179
2024	176
2025	210

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1916	19.0 °C
1917	17.5 °C
1918	19.1 °C
1919	19.5 °C
1920	18.3 °C
1927	17.9 °C
1928	17.4 °C
1929	18.1 °C
1930	20.1 °C
1931	19.4 °C
1932	18.8 °C
1933	20.2 °C
1934	20.6 °C
1935	18.6 °C
1936	20.2 °C
1937	18.4 °C
1938	19.1 °C
1939	19.6 °C
1940	18.3 °C
1941	19.5 °C
1942	19.3 °C
1943	19.0 °C
1944	20.2 °C
1945	19.0 °C
1946	18.2 °C
1947	18.4 °C
1948	19.2 °C
1949	19.1 °C
1950	17.6 °C
1951	18.7 °C
1952	19.5 °C
1953	19.4 °C
1954	19.5 °C
1955	20.3 °C
1956	18.2 °C
1957	19.5 °C
1958	18.4 °C
1959	20.0 °C
1960	18.9 °C
1961	17.9 °C
1962	19.0 °C
1963	18.2 °C
1964	19.5 °C
1965	19.2 °C
1966	18.2 °C
1967	18.0 °C
1968	18.8 °C
1969	18.9 °C
1970	19.7 °C
1971	18.5 °C
1972	18.5 °C
1973	19.0 °C
1974	18.4 °C
1975	19.0 °C
1976	18.1 °C
1977	20.1 °C
1978	19.3 °C
1979	18.3 °C
1980	19.4 °C
1981	19.0 °C
1982	18.5 °C
1983	19.2 °C
1985	19.5 °C
1986	20.2 °C
1987	20.1 °C
1989	18.4 °C
1990	18.7 °C
1991	20.5 °C
1992	17.6 °C
1993	18.9 °C
1994	18.1 °C
1995	18.8 °C
1996	18.3 °C
1997	17.4 °C
1998	19.5 °C
1999	19.9 °C
2012	19.5 °C
2014	18.4 °C
2015	19.2 °C
2016	19.6 °C
2017	18.9 °C
2018	19.4 °C
2019	19.7 °C
2020	18.8 °C
2021	19.4 °C
2022	19.1 °C
2023	18.5 °C
2024	20.2 °C
2025	19.5 °C
2026	20.0 °C

What this means for you: Since 1916, Mount Sterling's last spring frost has stayed at about the same time of year. 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 Washington Court House (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Bethel (near London)Commercial Point Williamsport Grove City South Bloomfield London