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USDA Hardiness Zone 5b

Frost Dates for 14813 — Belmont, New York

Averages from Angelica, Ny US, the nearest reporting station, 5 miles away.

Plant tender crops after May 21, and expect the first autumn freeze around September 30. That leaves about 130 frost-free days.

Last spring frost
May 21

50% probability

First fall frost
September 30

50% probability

Growing season
130 days

frost-free

Hardiness zone
5b

-15 to -10°F annual low

Planting calendar for 14813

What to do and when, based on the frost normals for Belmont, New York
WhenWhat to do
March 12 – March 26

Start peppers and aubergines indoors

They need eight to ten weeks under lights before they can go out.

March 26 – April 9

Start tomatoes indoors

Six to eight weeks gives a transplant big enough to set fruit early.

April 23 – May 7

Sow peas, spinach, lettuce, radish outdoors

These tolerate light frost and prefer to germinate in cool soil.

May 21 onward

Transplant tomatoes, peppers, basil, squash, cucumbers

The average last freeze has passed — still watch the actual forecast.

by July 8

Sow the autumn crop of carrots, beets and brassicas

They need about twelve weeks to size up before growth stops.

by September 16

Harvest tender crops, or be ready to cover them

A first freeze two weeks early is well within normal variation.

September 30 onward

Plant garlic, mulch beds, lift tender bulbs

Garlic wants a cold spell; bare soil loses structure over winter.

What these dates mean

Wait until after May 21 to put tender plants — tomatoes, peppers, basil, squash — in the ground. That is the date by which half of years in Belmont, New York are past their last freeze. Harvest before September 30, which leaves roughly 130 frost-free days.

ZIP 14813 sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b, meaning the average coldest night of the year falls between -15 to -10°F. Zone decides what survives the winter; frost dates decide when to plant each spring. They are different questions, and a plant can pass one and fail the other.

These are thirty-year NOAA averages for 1991–2020, not a forecast. Any individual year can frost two to three weeks either side of these dates, so check the actual forecast before planting out.

Other zone 5b ZIP codes in New York