Regional guide

Indiana Frost and Soil Temperature Vegetable Garden

A Purdue Extension guide for Indiana frost-relative planting, soil-temperature thresholds, hardiness groups, fall timing, and succession planning.

Climate signals

• Purdue Extension bases safe Indiana planting-date ranges on statistical last spring frost and first fall frost dates, not a single statewide calendar day.
• Purdue says planting dates differ by microclimatic effects including urban areas, natural terrain, moisture, sunlight, wind exposure, cloches, and mulches.
• Warm-season crops such as beans, tomatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, and sweet corn should be delayed until soil reaches at least 60F for optimum germination or growth.
• For fall planting dates, Purdue says to consider days to maturity, choose faster maturing cultivars when possible, and irrigate frequently until the crop is established.

Planning notes

• Hardy crops are planted 4-6 weeks before last spring frost; Purdue examples include broccoli, kale, peas, and spinach.
• Semi-hardy crops are planted 2-4 weeks before last spring frost; Purdue examples include beet, carrot, chard, cauliflower, celery, lettuce, and parsnip.
• Tender crops are planted after average last spring frost when minimum air temperature is 50F; Purdue examples include bean, tomato, and sweet corn.
• Very Tender crops are planted at least two weeks after average last spring frost when minimum air temperature is 60-65F; Purdue examples include cucumber, okra, pumpkin, eggplant, pepper, squash, and melons.
• For fall planting, Purdue lists cool-season plants at least 4-8 weeks before first fall frost; examples include beet, radish, broccoli, kale, spinach, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, turnip, cabbage, lettuce, collards, and mustard greens.
• Making several plantings within the safe date ranges can extend the harvest season over a longer period; if making only one planting, Purdue recommends the middle of the range.

Catalog crop examples

These catalog entries match crops covered by the regional timing source; variety-specific details remain tied to each seed entry's own source.

• Provider Bush Bean Vegetable · Warm · 50 days
• Detroit Dark Red Beet Vegetable · Cool · 58 days
• Waltham 29 Broccoli Vegetable · Cool · 74 days
• Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts Vegetable · Cool · 100 days
• Golden Acre Cabbage Vegetable · Cool · 64 days
• Danvers 126 Carrot Vegetable · Shoulder · 70 days
• Snowball Y Cauliflower Vegetable · Cool · 70 days
• Tall Utah Celery Vegetable · Cool · 110 days
• Bright Lights Swiss Chard Vegetable · Shoulder · 55 days
• Georgia Southern Collards Vegetable · Cool · 65 days
• Golden Bantam Sweet Corn Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Marketmore 76 Cucumber Vegetable · Warm · 58 days
• Black Beauty Eggplant Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Lacinato Kale Vegetable · Cool · 60 days
• Early White Vienna Kohlrabi Vegetable · Cool · 55 days
• American Flag Leek Vegetable · Cool · 120 days
• Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Hale's Best Jumbo Melon Vegetable · Warm · 85 days
• Southern Giant Curled Mustard Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Clemson Spineless Okra Vegetable · Warm · 56 days
• Evergreen Bunching Onion Vegetable · Shoulder · 65 days
• Hollow Crown Parsnip Vegetable · Cool · 120 days
• Sugar Snap Pea Vegetable · Cool · 62 days
• California Wonder Pepper Vegetable · Warm · 72 days
• Small Sugar Pumpkin Vegetable · Warm · 100 days
• French Breakfast Radish Vegetable · Cool · 28 days
• Bloomsdale Spinach Vegetable · Cool · 42 days
• Delicata Winter Squash Vegetable · Warm · 100 days
• Waltham Butternut Squash Vegetable · Warm · 95 days
• Roma Tomato Vegetable · Warm · 76 days
• Purple Top White Globe Turnip Vegetable · Cool · 55 days
• Sugar Baby Watermelon Vegetable · Warm · 80 days

Related regional guides

• Ohio Central Normal-Season Vegetable Garden OSU Extension central Ohio guide for normal-season direct-seeded rows, transplants, timing shifts, succession, and fall crops.
• Iowa Planting and Harvest Timing Vegetable Garden An Iowa State Extension guide for Iowa vegetable planting schedules, harvest timing, staggered chart use, and April-October planning.
• Kansas Expected Planting Calendar Vegetable Garden A K-State Research and Extension guide for Kansas planting windows, crop temperatures, frost resistance, spacing, and harvest timing.
• Kentucky Three-Region Vegetable Garden A University of Kentucky guide for Western, Central, and Eastern Kentucky vegetable planting dates, methods, and safe planting windows.

Source: Purdue Extension Indiana Vegetable Planting Calendar