Seed Starting Calendar for Alabama

Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Auburn University and Alabama A&M University) plants Alabama by region and month (see the months below), and transplants are sown 4 to 10 weeks ahead of the month they go out. Counted from the frost instead, Birmingham's median last frost of March 21 puts spring 2027 tomato seeds at Jan 31 to Feb 14 and peppers at Jan 24 to Feb 7.

It depends on the station. The earliest median last spring freeze in Alabama is January 31 at Dauphin Is #2; the latest is April 11 at Camp Hill 2NW. A median is a coin flip: at Birmingham the last 32°F freeze comes after March 21 in half of years, and has passed by April 8 in 9 of 10 years (NOAA 1991 to 2020 normals).

UNH Extension sets tomatoes out 1 to 2 weeks after the last frost, which at Birmingham is Mar 28 to Apr 4 in 2027. Tomatoes are frost tender, so the date to watch is April 8, when 9 of 10 springs at Birmingham have had their last 32°F night. Hardening off starts two weeks before setting out (Mar 14 to Mar 28).

Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Auburn University and Alabama A&M University) publishes planting months by region (Central Alabama). For Central Alabama, tomatoes go in during April and July. Seeds for transplants go in 4 to 10 weeks ahead of those months, depending on the crop.

Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Auburn University and Alabama A&M University)'s The Alabama Vegetable Gardener puts it this way: "These planting dates are for Central Alabama. For South Alabama, make spring plantings approximately 10 days earlier and fall plantings 10 days later. In North Alabama, make spring plantings approximately 10 days later and fall plantings 10 days earlier." The guide is linked below with the date it was read (September 21, 2026).

UNH Extension gives 8 to 10 weeks from seed to transplant for both, and sets peppers out 2 weeks after the last frost and eggplant 2 to 3 weeks after, so the sowing date is 6 to 8 weeks before the median last frost. At Birmingham that is Jan 24 to Feb 7 for peppers.

About two weeks. University of Missouri Extension: "Hardening should be started about two weeks before planting in the garden." University of Minnesota Extension adds that seedlings should go out on a cloudy day or in the late afternoon.

Mobile Bay clears its median last frost around Feb 21, a full month before Huntsville in the Tennessee Valley (Mar 24), so a south Alabama tomato flat goes under the lights in January. Each station carries its own dates: Mobile Feb 21 and Huntsville Mar 24 at the median.