One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when you can plant carrots is to refer to the USDA zone info for Fort Smith.

Planting Calendar for Carrots

Frost tolerance for carrots:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Carrots tend to make it in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant carrots in Fort Smith is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant carrots and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your carrots may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your carrots indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Fort Smith. You can expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fort Smith may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Fort Smith last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your carrots if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Fort Smith

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Fort Smith

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fort Smith.