Seed Starting Calendar for Arkansas

Count back from the median last frost where you garden. At El Dorado (El Dorado S Ar Regional Airport) that date is March 24, so for spring 2027 onions start indoors Dec 16 to Dec 30, peppers Jan 27 to Feb 10 and tomatoes Feb 3 to Feb 17. Across Arkansas's 109 NOAA stations the median last frost runs from Mar 13 to Apr 13 for the middle 90 percent, so a garden near Lead Hill starts later than one near Arkansas Post.

It depends on the station. The earliest median last spring freeze in Arkansas is March 10 at Arkansas Post; the latest is April 15 at Lead Hill. A median is a coin flip: at El Dorado the last 32°F freeze comes after March 24 in half of years, and has passed by April 9 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 El Dorado is Mar 31 to Apr 7 in 2027. Tomatoes are frost tender, so the date to watch is April 9, when 9 of 10 springs at El Dorado have had their last 32°F night. Hardening off starts two weeks before setting out (Mar 17 to Mar 31).

University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service (with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) publishes planting months by region (Central Arkansas, zones B and C). For Central Arkansas, zones B and C, tomatoes go in during April, May, June and July. Seeds for transplants go in 4 to 10 weeks ahead of those months, depending on the crop.

University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service (with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff)'s Year-Round Home Garden Planting Chart puts it this way: "This planting guide was prepared for persons in central Arkansas zones B and C. Adjust planting dates earlier or later depending on your particular zone." 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 El Dorado that is Jan 27 to Feb 10 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.

Little Rock reaches its median last frost around Mar 21, and Fayetteville up in the Ozark Plateau around Apr 15, so a northwest Arkansas pepper sowing runs three or four weeks behind the Delta. Each station carries its own dates: Little Rock Mar 21 and Fayetteville Apr 15 at the median.