When to plant in Chester, SC

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

Safe to plant out

Apr 21

1 year in 10 has a later frost

Average last frost

Apr 7

about a 50% chance of a later one

Average first fall frost

Oct 29

1 year in 10 by Oct 19

Frost-free days

204

median, 1991–2020

Station used: Chester 1 Se · 2.8 km away · station 171 m, town 163 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	Feb 24 – Mar 10	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 15
Sweet pepper	Feb 10 – Feb 24	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 20
Lettuce (leaf)	Feb 3 – Feb 10	Mar 10 – Mar 24	Apr 19
Peas	—	Feb 24 – Mar 24	Apr 20
Bush beans	—	Apr 14 – May 5	Jun 3
Carrot	—	Mar 17 – Apr 28	May 16
Beet	—	Mar 10 – Apr 21	Apr 29
Potato	—	Mar 17 – Apr 7	May 26
Kale	Jan 27 – Feb 10	Mar 10 – Mar 24	Apr 22
Broccoli	Jan 27 – Feb 10	Mar 10 – Mar 31	May 9
Cucumber	Mar 24 – Mar 31	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 10
Summer squash and zucchini	Mar 24 – Mar 31	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 5
Winter squash	Mar 24 – Mar 31	Apr 21 – May 5	Jul 10
Sweet corn	—	Apr 14 – May 5	Jun 13
Onion (from sets)	—	Mar 10 – Mar 31	Jun 8
Garlic	—	Oct 15 – Nov 12 (fall)	following summer
Spinach	—	Feb 24 – Mar 24	Apr 3
Basil	Mar 10 – Mar 24	Apr 21 – May 5	Jun 17

Plan all 65 crops for Chester

Chester'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
1923	Apr 2
1924	Apr 2
1925	Apr 1
1935	Apr 16
1936	Apr 20
1938	Apr 11
1939	Mar 20
1940	Apr 14
1941	Mar 30
1942	Apr 2
1943	Apr 16
1944	Apr 6
1945	Apr 7
1946	Mar 11
1947	Mar 29
1948	Mar 29
1949	Apr 17
1950	Apr 16
1951	Mar 25
1952	Apr 8
1953	Apr 21
1954	Mar 22
1955	Apr 9
1956	Apr 21
1957	Apr 16
1958	Apr 13
1959	Apr 15
1960	Apr 11
1961	Apr 29
1962	Apr 22
1963	May 2
1964	Apr 10
1965	Mar 23
1966	May 11
1967	Mar 19
1968	Mar 25
1969	Mar 28
1970	Mar 27
1971	Apr 3
1972	Apr 9
1973	Apr 11
1974	Apr 10
1975	Apr 4
1976	Mar 18
1977	Mar 23
1978	Mar 18
1979	Mar 26
1980	Mar 13
1981	Mar 25
1983	Apr 21
1984	Mar 12
1985	Apr 10
1986	Apr 24
1987	Apr 7
1988	Apr 21
1989	May 9
1990	Apr 13
1991	Apr 1
1992	Apr 7
1993	Apr 29
1994	Apr 9
1995	Apr 26
1996	Apr 12
1997	Apr 18
1998	Mar 24
1999	Apr 19
2000	Apr 11
2001	Apr 20
2002	Mar 28
2004	Apr 16
2005	Apr 26
2006	Mar 28
2007	Apr 10
2008	Mar 26
2009	Apr 9
2010	Mar 9
2011	Apr 7
2012	Apr 13
2013	Mar 30
2014	Apr 17
2015	Mar 30
2016	Apr 7
2017	Mar 18
2018	Apr 18
2019	Mar 29
2020	Mar 9
2021	Apr 23
2022	Apr 10
2023	Mar 22
2024	Mar 20
2025	Mar 19
2026	Mar 29

Each year's frost-free daysLong-term trend

See the data as a table

Year	Frost-free days
1923	219
1924	230
1936	193
1938	217
1939	225
1940	206
1941	222
1942	207
1943	184
1944	204
1945	211
1946	247
1947	224
1948	203
1949	200
1950	203
1951	223
1952	195
1953	199
1955	188
1956	202
1957	186
1958	195
1959	193
1960	196
1961	168
1962	185
1963	167
1964	180
1965	215
1966	175
1967	223
1968	217
1969	209
1970	233
1972	193
1973	212
1974	193
1975	210
1976	223
1977	232
1978	262
1979	233
1980	243
1981	232
1983	204
1984	239
1985	236
1986	178
1987	179
1988	174
1989	164
1990	196
1991	188
1992	194
1993	182
1994	200
1995	192
1996	189
1997	192
1998	212
1999	187
2000	180
2001	179
2002	218
2004	203
2005	181
2006	209
2007	210
2008	215
2009	192
2010	242
2011	205
2012	207
2013	209
2014	198
2016	226
2017	225
2018	206
2019	219
2020	238
2021	205
2022	191
2023	224
2024	246
2025	236

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

See the data as a table

Year	Growing-season temperature
1923	22.3 °C
1924	22.5 °C
1925	24.3 °C
1936	22.4 °C
1938	22.6 °C
1939	23.1 °C
1940	22.4 °C
1941	23.8 °C
1942	23.6 °C
1943	22.8 °C
1944	23.0 °C
1945	22.9 °C
1946	22.3 °C
1947	22.9 °C
1948	22.9 °C
1949	22.4 °C
1950	22.3 °C
1951	22.9 °C
1952	23.2 °C
1953	23.4 °C
1954	23.0 °C
1955	22.9 °C
1956	22.0 °C
1957	22.7 °C
1958	22.5 °C
1959	22.6 °C
1960	22.4 °C
1961	21.2 °C
1962	22.1 °C
1963	21.7 °C
1964	22.1 °C
1965	22.7 °C
1966	21.8 °C
1967	21.6 °C
1968	23.0 °C
1969	22.9 °C
1970	23.8 °C
1971	22.6 °C
1972	22.1 °C
1973	22.9 °C
1974	22.6 °C
1975	23.0 °C
1976	22.2 °C
1977	24.1 °C
1978	23.2 °C
1979	22.2 °C
1980	23.7 °C
1981	22.9 °C
1983	22.8 °C
1984	22.0 °C
1985	22.7 °C
1986	23.1 °C
1987	22.7 °C
1988	21.7 °C
1989	21.5 °C
1990	22.1 °C
1991	22.7 °C
1992	21.1 °C
1993	22.4 °C
1994	21.6 °C
1995	22.2 °C
1996	21.9 °C
1997	20.8 °C
1998	22.8 °C
1999	22.1 °C
2000	21.9 °C
2001	22.0 °C
2002	22.9 °C
2003	21.7 °C
2004	22.2 °C
2005	21.7 °C
2006	22.3 °C
2007	22.7 °C
2008	22.2 °C
2009	22.4 °C
2010	23.7 °C
2011	23.1 °C
2012	22.4 °C
2013	21.6 °C
2014	22.1 °C
2015	23.1 °C
2016	23.4 °C
2017	22.6 °C
2018	23.3 °C
2019	23.5 °C
2020	21.9 °C
2021	22.1 °C
2022	22.7 °C
2023	21.7 °C
2024	22.7 °C
2025	22.6 °C
2026	23.1 °C

What this means for you: Since 1923, Chester'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 Chester 1 Se (NOAA GHCN-Daily). Years with too many missing days are left out.

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