When to plant in West Lafayette, OH

Planting dates worked out from West Lafayette'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 28

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 15

1 year in 10 by Oct 2

Frost-free days

168

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Coshocton Wpc Plt · 10.9 km away · station 232 m, town 245 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	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 24 – Mar 3	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 10
Peas	—	Mar 24 – Apr 21	May 18
Bush beans	—	May 7 – May 28	Jun 26
Carrot	—	Apr 7 – May 19	Jun 6
Beet	—	Apr 1 – May 13	May 21
Potato	—	Apr 7 – Apr 28	Jun 16
Kale	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Mar 31 – Apr 14	May 13
Broccoli	Feb 17 – Mar 3	Mar 31 – Apr 21	May 30
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 31 – Apr 21	Jun 29
Garlic	—	Oct 1 – Oct 29 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Mar 24 – Apr 21	May 1
Basil	Apr 2 – Apr 16	May 14 – May 28	Jul 10

Plan all 65 crops for West Lafayette

West Lafayette'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
1936	Apr 23
1937	Apr 11
1938	May 12
1939	May 14
1940	May 5
1941	May 12
1942	Apr 21
1943	May 2
1944	Apr 29
1945	Jun 6
1946	Apr 28
1947	May 10
1948	Apr 18
1949	Apr 25
1950	May 8
1951	Apr 24
1952	Apr 17
1953	Apr 21
1954	Apr 13
1955	Apr 8
1956	May 24
1957	May 6
1958	May 8
1959	May 16
1960	May 2
1961	May 5
1962	Apr 24
1963	May 24
1964	Apr 16
1965	Apr 29
1966	May 11
1967	May 3
1968	May 7
1969	May 27
1970	May 7
1971	May 4
1972	Jun 11
1973	May 5
1974	May 9
1975	Apr 27
1976	May 9
1977	May 11
1978	May 3
1979	May 17
1980	May 9
1981	May 8
1982	Apr 29
1983	May 10
1984	May 17
1985	May 4
1986	May 4
1987	Apr 10
1988	Apr 26
1989	Apr 24
1990	Apr 19
1991	Apr 11
1992	Apr 29
1993	Apr 27
1994	May 2
1995	Apr 26
1997	May 2
1998	Apr 28
1999	Apr 29
2000	Apr 27
2001	May 15
2002	May 21
2003	Apr 27
2004	May 4
2005	May 5
2006	Apr 27
2007	Apr 14
2008	Apr 16
2009	Apr 17
2010	May 10
2011	Apr 6
2015	Apr 24
2016	May 16
2017	May 9
2018	Apr 30
2019	Apr 3
2020	May 14
2021	May 12
2022	Apr 28
2023	Apr 27

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1936	186
1937	185
1938	147
1939	151
1940	166
1941	156
1942	160
1943	155
1944	148
1945	119
1946	157
1947	139
1948	182
1949	157
1950	138
1951	157
1952	169
1953	169
1954	189
1955	196
1956	118
1957	143
1958	146
1959	154
1960	171
1961	164
1962	149
1963	122
1964	172
1965	157
1966	143
1967	168
1968	150
1969	140
1970	162
1971	156
1972	111
1973	166
1974	136
1975	158
1976	159
1977	155
1978	167
1979	149
1980	149
1981	137
1982	170
1983	127
1984	168
1985	155
1986	167
1987	180
1988	162
1989	166
1990	183
1991	168
1992	171
1993	158
1994	160
1995	149
1997	171
1998	177
2000	163
2001	144
2002	145
2003	157
2004	165
2005	174
2006	168
2007	196
2008	185
2009	183
2010	158
2015	175
2016	161
2017	169
2018	168
2020	156
2021	174
2022	173
2023	178

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1936	19.9 °C
1937	19.1 °C
1938	20.0 °C
1939	20.0 °C
1940	18.5 °C
1941	20.1 °C
1942	19.9 °C
1943	19.2 °C
1944	20.1 °C
1945	18.9 °C
1946	17.3 °C
1947	18.3 °C
1948	18.6 °C
1949	18.7 °C
1950	18.0 °C
1951	18.9 °C
1952	20.0 °C
1953	19.9 °C
1954	19.9 °C
1955	19.9 °C
1956	17.4 °C
1957	18.1 °C
1958	17.9 °C
1959	19.6 °C
1960	18.6 °C
1961	17.6 °C
1962	18.5 °C
1963	17.0 °C
1964	18.2 °C
1965	18.1 °C
1966	17.2 °C
1967	16.9 °C
1968	17.7 °C
1969	18.2 °C
1970	18.9 °C
1971	17.8 °C
1972	17.4 °C
1973	18.2 °C
1974	17.4 °C
1975	17.6 °C
1976	17.1 °C
1977	18.7 °C
1978	18.1 °C
1979	17.2 °C
1980	18.5 °C
1981	18.0 °C
1982	17.6 °C
1983	17.9 °C
1984	17.7 °C
1985	18.4 °C
1986	19.0 °C
1987	19.1 °C
1988	18.6 °C
1989	17.7 °C
1990	17.7 °C
1991	20.0 °C
1992	17.2 °C
1993	18.3 °C
1994	17.8 °C
1995	18.7 °C
1997	17.0 °C
1998	19.1 °C
2000	17.9 °C
2001	18.2 °C
2002	19.0 °C
2003	17.8 °C
2004	18.3 °C
2005	19.0 °C
2006	18.1 °C
2007	18.4 °C
2008	18.2 °C
2009	17.8 °C
2010	19.7 °C
2015	18.8 °C
2016	19.2 °C
2017	18.6 °C
2018	19.3 °C
2019	20.6 °C
2020	18.2 °C
2021	18.6 °C
2022	18.5 °C
2023	17.9 °C

What this means for you: Since 1936, West Lafayette'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 Coshocton Wpc Plt (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

Nearby towns

Coshocton Newcomerstown Mantua (near Cambridge)Sugarcreek Police Dept Sugarcreek Dresden