Fall Planting Planner: Last Day to Plant Before Your First Frost

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Fall crops and the days each needs before the first frost (NC State days to harvest, plus UGA's harvest allowance)

Crop	Plant as	Days to harvest (longest)	Days needed before first frost	Last day to plant, Minneapolis (safe)	Last day to plant, Atlanta (safe)
Parsnips	Seed	130 days	148 days	May 6	Jun 9
Onions, bulb	Seed	120 days	138 days	May 16	Jun 19
Collard greens	Seed	100 days	118 days	Jun 5	Jul 9
Beans, lima/pole	Seed	95 days	113 days	Jun 10	Jul 14
Cauliflower	Seed	95 days	113 days	Jun 10	Jul 14
Eggplant	Transplant	95 days	113 days	Jun 10	Jul 14
Fennel, Florence	Seed	90 days	108 days	Jun 15	Jul 19
Cabbage, Chinese	Seed	85 days	103 days	Jun 20	Jul 24
Lettuce, head	Seed	85 days	103 days	Jun 20	Jul 24
Tomatoes	Transplant	85 days	103 days	Jun 20	Jul 24
Broccoli	Transplant	80 days	98 days	Jun 25	Jul 29
Peppers	Transplant	80 days	98 days	Jun 25	Jul 29
Rutabaga	Seed	80 days	98 days	Jun 25	Jul 29
Cabbage	Transplant	75 days	93 days	Jun 30	Aug 3
Pac choi/bok choy	Transplant	75 days	93 days	Jun 30	Aug 3
Parsley	Seed	75 days	93 days	Jun 30	Aug 3
Collard greens	Transplant	72 days	90 days	Jul 3	Aug 6
Peas, vining	Seed	72 days	90 days	Jul 3	Aug 6
Chard, Swiss	Seed	70 days	88 days	Jul 5	Aug 8
Okra	Seed	70 days	88 days	Jul 5	Aug 8
Onions, green	Seed	70 days	88 days	Jul 5	Aug 8
Cauliflower	Transplant	65 days	83 days	Jul 10	Aug 13
Peas, field/southern	Seed	65 days	83 days	Jul 10	Aug 13
Beets	Seed	60 days	78 days	Jul 15	Aug 18
Kohlrabi	Seed	60 days	78 days	Jul 15	Aug 18
Lettuce, head	Transplant	60 days	78 days	Jul 15	Aug 18
Peas, bush	Seed	60 days	78 days	Jul 15	Aug 18
Spinach	Seed	60 days	78 days	Jul 15	Aug 18
Turnips	Seed	60 days	78 days	Jul 15	Aug 18
Onions, green	Transplant	56 days	74 days	Jul 19	Aug 22
Cabbage, Chinese	Transplant	55 days	73 days	Jul 20	Aug 23
Cilantro	Seed	55 days	73 days	Jul 20	Aug 23
Dill	Seed	55 days	73 days	Jul 20	Aug 23
Arugula	Seed	50 days	68 days	Jul 25	Aug 28
Brussels sprouts	Transplant	50 days	68 days	Jul 25	Aug 28
Kale	Seed	50 days	68 days	Jul 25	Aug 28
Lettuce, leaf	Seed	50 days	68 days	Jul 25	Aug 28
Chard, Swiss	Transplant	42 days	60 days	Aug 2	Sep 5
Mustard	Seed	40 days	58 days	Aug 4	Sep 7
Parsley	Transplant	33 days	51 days	Aug 11	Sep 14
Kohlrabi	Transplant	32 days	50 days	Aug 12	Sep 15
Lettuce, leaf	Transplant	25 days	43 days	Aug 19	Sep 22
Radishes	Seed	25 days	43 days	Aug 19	Sep 22
Kale	Transplant	22 days	40 days	Aug 22	Sep 25

In short: Choose the weather station nearest your garden. For each fall crop you get two last-planting dates: a safe one counted back from the early first frost that only one year in ten beats, and a typical one counted back from the usual first frost.

The question this answers

A fall garden runs backward. In spring you start from the last frost and move forward; in late summer you start from the first frost and ask how late a crop can still go in and finish. Plant too late and the broccoli is still small when the first hard night arrives.

This planner answers that for your own location. It takes the first fall frost for the NOAA weather station you choose and, for each of 34 vegetables and herbs that NC State Extension plants from midsummer on, shows the last day to sow seed or set out a transplant.

How the dates are worked out

The planner joins three published sources and does one subtraction, and it adds no figure of its own:

• The rule comes from the University of Georgia's Vegetable Garden Calendar: find your frost date and count back the crop's days to maturity plus 18 days for harvest. The extra days are there because a crop is picked over a stretch of time, not on the day it matures.
• Days to maturity come from NC State Extension's planting calendar. Where it gives a range, the planner uses the longer end, so a slow variety still has time.
• Which crops count as fall crops, and whether each goes in as seed or as a transplant, also come from NC State: they are the crops its table plants in July or later, in the form it lists for that season.
• Your first frost comes from NOAA's frost probabilities for the station you pick.

You get two columns because NOAA gives the odds, not one date. The safe column counts back from the early first frost, the date that only one year in ten beats. The typical column counts back from the date with even odds, so in about half of years a crop planted on that day will meet frost before it is done.

Worked example: fall broccoli in Minneapolis and Atlanta

NC State lists broccoli transplants at up to 80 days to harvest. Add UGA's harvest allowance and a planting needs 98 days before the first frost.

At the Minneapolis-St Paul airport station the first frost comes around October 18 in a typical year and by October 1 in one year in ten. Counting back gives a typical last planting day of July 12 and a safe one of June 25. If you raise your own transplants, NC State advises starting seedlings 6 to 8 weeks before they go into the garden, so the seeds go in earlier than the planting day.

At the Atlanta airport station the first frost averages November 20, with an early date of November 4. The safe last day for the same broccoli moves to July 29. The quickest crop from seed, radishes at 25 days, needs only 43 days in total, so its last planting day sits closest to the frost. The slowest, parsnips, needs 148 days.

Reading the result with judgment

• Cool-season crops buy you a little time. NC State notes that cool-season vegetables can tolerate colder temperatures and some frost, so for those crops the safe date leaves a margin.
• Warm-season crops do not. NC State says warm-season vegetables do not tolerate frost and should only be planted outside when frost is no longer a threat. Its table does not label each row, so if you are unsure which kind a crop is, treat the safe date as a firm deadline.
• Check the seed packet. Days to maturity vary by variety. If your packet gives a longer figure than NC State's, count back from the packet instead, using the same harvest allowance.
• Frost is not the only limit. NC State advises delaying fall planting until whitefly populations decline with cooler temperatures. The dates here only make sure a crop can finish before frost; they do not say that conditions at planting suit it.
• Further north, plan earlier. NC State's days to harvest were written for central North Carolina, where, in its words, spring and fall have short days and cool temperatures. In a northern garden, light and warmth fade sooner, which can slow a crop, so it may need longer than NC State's figure. Use the packet's figure when it is longer, or plant ahead of the safe date.

The table you see before choosing a station shows the safe dates for Minneapolis and Atlanta side by side, which is a quick way to see how much a northern season compresses the fall window. For the dates behind your station, including the full odds ladder, open the frost dates lookup. For the days to harvest of every crop NC State lists, see the days to harvest chart, and for the original month-by-month advice this rule comes from, the Georgia vegetable garden calendar.