When to plant in Salem, OH

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

Safe to plant out

May 28

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

May 6

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 4

1 year in 10 by Sep 22

Frost-free days

142

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Millport 4 Ne · 14.6 km away · station 357 m, town 374 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	Apr 2 – Apr 16	May 28 – Jun 11	Jul 22
Sweet pepper	Mar 19 – Apr 2	May 28 – Jun 11	Jul 27
Lettuce (leaf)	Mar 4 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 22	May 18
Peas	—	Mar 27 – Apr 24	May 21
Bush beans	—	May 21 – Jun 11	Jul 10
Carrot	—	Apr 15 – May 27	Jun 14
Beet	—	Apr 8 – May 20	May 28
Potato	—	Apr 15 – May 6	Jun 24
Kale	Feb 25 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 22	May 21
Broccoli	Feb 25 – Mar 11	Apr 8 – Apr 29	Jun 7
Cucumber	Apr 30 – May 7	May 28 – Jun 11	Jul 17
Summer squash and zucchini	Apr 30 – May 7	May 28 – Jun 11	Jul 12
Winter squash	Apr 30 – May 7	May 28 – Jun 11	Aug 16
Sweet corn	—	May 21 – Jun 11	Jul 20
Onion (from sets)	—	Apr 8 – Apr 29	Jul 7
Garlic	—	Sep 20 – Oct 18 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 27 – Apr 24	May 4
Basil	Apr 16 – Apr 30	May 28 – Jun 11	Jul 24

Plan all 65 crops for Salem

Salem'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
1896	Apr 7
1897	May 26
1898	Apr 28
1899	Apr 17
1900	May 10
1901	May 13
1902	May 29
1903	May 5
1904	May 13
1905	May 24
1906	May 11
1907	May 28
1908	May 3
1909	May 12
1910	May 17
1911	May 7
1912	Jun 8
1913	Jun 10
1914	Jun 17
1915	May 27
1916	May 20
1917	May 26
1918	May 11
1919	Apr 27
1920	May 16
1921	May 17
1922	May 1
1923	May 14
1924	May 21
1925	May 27
1926	May 13
1927	May 1
1928	May 15
1929	May 20
1930	Jun 1
1931	May 4
1932	May 30
1933	Jun 15
1934	May 25
1935	May 25
1936	May 29
1937	May 11
1938	May 25
1939	May 15
1940	May 12
1941	May 25
1942	May 11
1943	May 5
1944	May 7
1945	Jun 7
1946	May 13
1947	May 12
1948	May 4
1949	May 29
1950	Jun 18
1951	May 14
1952	May 30
1953	Apr 24
1954	May 5
1955	May 21
1956	May 25
1957	May 8
1958	Jun 7
1959	May 17
1960	May 12
1961	May 31
1962	Apr 24
1963	May 24
1964	May 30
1965	Apr 29
1966	Jun 2
1967	May 23
1968	May 7
1969	May 27
1970	May 18
1971	May 28
1972	Jun 11
1974	May 8
1975	May 7
1976	May 23
1977	Jun 8
1978	May 11
1979	May 17
1980	May 15
1981	May 20
1982	May 5
1983	May 27
1984	May 17
1985	May 19
1986	May 4
1987	May 6
1988	May 26
1989	May 7
1990	May 31
1991	Apr 25
1992	May 28
1993	May 21
1994	May 28
1995	May 7
1996	May 14
1997	May 22
1998	Apr 29
1999	Apr 25
2000	May 16
2001	May 31
2002	May 22
2004	May 4
2005	May 5
2007	Apr 17
2008	Apr 16
2009	Apr 14
2010	May 11
2011	Apr 6
2012	Apr 29

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1897	117
1898	170
1899	166
1901	143
1902	108
1903	136
1904	125
1905	141
1906	151
1907	125
1908	149
1909	138
1910	159
1911	170
1912	113
1913	95
1914	84
1915	132
1916	121
1917	107
1918	133
1919	168
1920	139
1921	148
1922	147
1923	122
1924	141
1925	133
1926	148
1927	142
1928	133
1929	121
1930	120
1931	158
1932	108
1933	120
1934	129
1935	127
1936	126
1937	129
1938	129
1939	140
1940	136
1941	151
1942	136
1943	129
1944	139
1945	118
1946	142
1947	133
1948	144
1949	114
1950	97
1951	116
1952	119
1953	142
1954	141
1955	114
1956	117
1957	141
1958	113
1959	122
1960	141
1961	108
1962	176
1963	121
1964	105
1965	149
1966	105
1967	122
1968	150
1969	134
1970	138
1971	119
1972	111
1974	137
1975	129
1976	124
1977	120
1978	140
1979	125
1980	142
1981	126
1982	115
1983	118
1984	121
1985	118
1986	127
1987	142
1988	130
1989	139
1990	109
1991	148
1992	130
1993	132
1994	128
1995	138
1996	142
1997	132
1998	155
1999	149
2000	133
2001	106
2002	138
2004	151
2005	147
2007	194
2010	171
2011	204

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1897	16.0 °C
1898	17.8 °C
1899	17.8 °C
1901	17.4 °C
1902	16.6 °C
1903	16.3 °C
1904	15.9 °C
1905	16.6 °C
1906	17.5 °C
1907	15.2 °C
1908	17.5 °C
1909	16.6 °C
1910	16.6 °C
1911	17.8 °C
1912	17.1 °C
1913	16.9 °C
1914	17.0 °C
1915	16.4 °C
1916	16.4 °C
1917	15.3 °C
1918	16.8 °C
1919	16.8 °C
1920	15.7 °C
1921	18.2 °C
1922	17.0 °C
1923	15.9 °C
1924	15.0 °C
1925	16.6 °C
1926	16.1 °C
1927	15.7 °C
1928	15.4 °C
1929	16.0 °C
1930	17.1 °C
1931	17.3 °C
1932	16.6 °C
1933	17.8 °C
1934	17.9 °C
1935	16.1 °C
1936	17.3 °C
1937	16.7 °C
1938	17.1 °C
1939	17.3 °C
1940	15.8 °C
1941	17.7 °C
1942	17.7 °C
1943	17.0 °C
1944	17.9 °C
1945	17.1 °C
1946	16.2 °C
1947	16.5 °C
1948	17.3 °C
1949	17.6 °C
1950	16.1 °C
1951	17.0 °C
1952	17.8 °C
1953	17.6 °C
1954	17.7 °C
1955	18.7 °C
1956	16.2 °C
1957	17.3 °C
1958	16.3 °C
1959	17.9 °C
1960	16.8 °C
1961	16.0 °C
1962	16.9 °C
1963	15.8 °C
1964	17.0 °C
1965	17.0 °C
1966	16.1 °C
1967	16.1 °C
1968	16.9 °C
1969	17.0 °C
1970	17.9 °C
1971	16.2 °C
1972	16.7 °C
1974	16.5 °C
1975	16.8 °C
1976	15.8 °C
1977	17.8 °C
1978	16.8 °C
1979	16.5 °C
1980	17.3 °C
1981	17.3 °C
1982	16.6 °C
1983	17.1 °C
1984	16.4 °C
1985	17.4 °C
1986	17.7 °C
1987	18.2 °C
1988	17.7 °C
1989	16.7 °C
1990	16.5 °C
1991	18.7 °C
1992	16.4 °C
1993	17.8 °C
1994	16.2 °C
1995	17.1 °C
1996	16.6 °C
1997	16.3 °C
1998	18.1 °C
1999	18.0 °C
2000	16.6 °C
2001	17.3 °C
2002	19.2 °C
2004	17.8 °C
2005	18.7 °C
2007	18.2 °C
2008	17.5 °C
2010	18.8 °C
2011	18.5 °C
2012	18.4 °C

What this means for you: Since 1896, Salem'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 Millport 4 Ne (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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