Planting Date Calculator
Enter your ZIP code to get personalized planting dates for 35+ vegetables based on your USDA hardiness zone and local frost dates.
Planting calendar and frost reminders
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Common questions
Most seeds should be started indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost date. Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant benefit from an early start (8 to 10 weeks before last frost), while cucumbers and squash only need 3 to 4 weeks. Check the indoor start dates in our calculator above for timing specific to your ZIP code and frost dates.
How This Calculator Works
Planting dates are calculated relative to your local last frost date, which we determine using your USDA hardiness zone. We look up your zone via the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map API (phzmapi.org), then use the average last and first frost dates for that zone (typical dates for the zone, not readings from a station near you), so your own garden may differ by a week or two. Each vegetable has a planting window defined as weeks before or after the last frost. For example, tomatoes are transplanted about 2 weeks after the last frost, while peas can be direct-sown about 5 weeks before it. To see when a crop planted on a given date will be ready to pick, use the harvest calculator.
Making the Most of Your Growing Season
- Start warm-season crops (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant) indoors 6-8 weeks before your last frost date to get a head start. Our schedule shows indoor start dates when applicable.
- Succession plant quick-maturing crops like lettuce, radishes, and beans every 2-3 weeks for continuous harvests through the season.
- Your growing season length determines which varieties you can grow. The growing season length calculator gives your number of frost-free days by ZIP. Short-season gardeners (under 120 days) should choose “early” or “short-season” varieties of tomatoes, melons, and squash.
- Once you know your planting dates, check the seed spacing calculator to plan how many plants fit in your beds, and use the companion planting checker to pair crops that help each other thrive.
Try Our Other Calculators
Quick answer▾
Planting dates are set relative to your average last spring frost, which comes from your USDA hardiness zone. Peas can go in the ground about 5 weeks before it, spinach, broccoli and radishes about 4 weeks before, and carrots about 3. Tomatoes and peppers are started indoors 8 to 10 weeks before the last frost and moved outside about 2 weeks after it. Enter your ZIP code below for dates for 35+ vegetables. Zone frost dates are averages, so check your local forecast before planting.
Data last updated: October 2026