When to Plant Summer Squash and Zucchini in Missouri: Spring and Fall Dates for South, Central and North Missouri
One Missouri calendar, one crop: summer squash, with the source’s dates left as printed and NOAA frost dates for Kansas City International Airport, St Louis Lambert International Airport, and Columbia Regional Airport.
Updated
Figures checked against their sources on ; next check .
Open MU Extension, University of Missouri’s calendar to the summer squash line under the heading “Squash” and you find 3 regions, each with its own spring and fall entries. North Missouri starts latest, on May 15, while South Missouri starts on May 1: 14 days between the two. The row carries no seed or transplant marking, so the packet or plant tag settles which one the dates fit.
Summer Squash and Zucchini: the Missouri table
The cells below are the source’s text, unedited.
| Region | Spring planting | Fall planting |
|---|---|---|
| South Missouri | 5/1–30 | — |
| Central Missouri | 5/10–30 | — |
| North Missouri | 5/15–30 | — |
What to know about this source
MU Extension divides Missouri into South, Central and North planting regions and tells readers to find their county on its planting-region map and use that region’s dates. The same table names recommended varieties and calls its list the “cream of the crop”, adding that it does not include all of the good ones.
Varieties MU names
MU Extension, University of Missouri suggests these for summer squash: Ambassador, Revenue, Dividend, Spineless Beauty, Goldfinger, Multipik, General Patton, Monet, Golden Crookneck, Dixie, Prelude II, Sunburst, Scallopini, and Peter Pan.
A variety missing from that list is not necessarily a poor one; the source simply did not name it.
Starting summer squash indoors
None of the figures in this section belong to Missouri. They are general: UNH, for one, puts the time from seed to transplant at 3 to 4 weeks.
Of the saved sources, one gives weeks for summer squash (UNH) and one gives a handling tip (Minnesota).
In the garden itself, UNH sows summer squash once the soil reaches 70 °F, which a soil thermometer answers better than any calendar.
| Source | What it says |
|---|---|
| University of New Hampshire | 3 to 4 weeks from seed to transplant; 2 weeks after the last frost is safe to set out |
| University of Minnesota | Cucumbers and squash transplant poorly, so raise them in fiber or paper pots that break down in the soil |
Frost dates for Missouri cities
Each date below is NOAA’s 50% level, meaning the last spring 32°F night lands on or after it in half the years, and the first fall night lands on or before it in half. The tool linked beside each city shows the other nine levels.
MU Extension, University of Missouri does not say which of its regions each city falls in, so the table does not guess.
| Station | Last spring 32°F | First fall 32°F | Region in the calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City International Airport, Missouri | April 13 | October 24 | Not stated by the source |
| St Louis Lambert International Airport, Missouri | April 2 | November 4 | Not stated by the source |
| Columbia Regional Airport, Missouri | April 7 | October 29 | Not stated by the source |
| Branson Airport, Missouri | April 8 | November 2 | Not stated by the source |
| Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, Missouri | April 5 | October 25 | Not stated by the source |
Worked example
Start from Branson Airport: the station’s median last spring freeze is April 8, and its median first fall freeze is November 2.
The calendar does not say which region Branson Airport belongs to, so set the date against the rows at each end. South Missouri opens May 1, 23 days after that date; North Missouri opens May 15, 37 days after it.
Do the same subtraction for your own town: choose its nearest station in the frost dates tool, take the 50% dates, and compare them with the row for your part of Missouri.
Before you rely on these dates
The county map that decides your region is an image in the MU publication; this page does not reproduce it, so check your region there.
Soil that is cold or soaked can hold a crop back even inside the printed window, so check the ground as well as the calendar.
Sources (5)
- MU Extension, University of Missouri (David H. Trinklein), Vegetable Planting Calendar, G6201, page 3 (Table 2, recommended varieties and planting dates) extension.missouri.edu
- MU Extension, University of Missouri (David H. Trinklein), Vegetable Planting Calendar, G6201, reviewed February 2016 extension.missouri.edu
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, annual and seasonal normals (frost/freeze probabilities by station) ncei.noaa.gov
- University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, Growing Vegetables: When to Plant Your Vegetable Garden (fact sheet) extension.unh.edu
- University of Minnesota Extension, Starting seeds indoors (page reviewed 2026) extension.umn.edu