When to Plant Caladium in Fairbanks, AK

One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant caladium in Fairbanks can be estimated by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Caladium

Frost tolerance for caladium: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After all chance of frost has passed.

Caladium do not do well in cold weather which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant caladium
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant caladium
Probably not a good time to plant caladium

The earliest that you can plant caladium in Fairbanks is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant caladium and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your caladium may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your caladium indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on May 15 in Fairbanks. You should expect an average low temperature of -50°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Fairbanks is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Fairbanks it frosts late in the year after May 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your caladium in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fairbanks

Here is the info for USDA Zone 2a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)August 15
Lowest Expected Low-50°F
Highest Expected Low-45°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -50°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -45°F.

Plants to Grow in Fairbanks

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fairbanks.