Frost dates · USDA zone 12b
Frost dates for Honolulu, HI
A 32 °F night is rare enough in Honolulu, HI that NOAA can't put a date on it in a typical year. Here the calendar is set by summer heat, not frost.
Pick a sauce; the Plan Builder runs this station's dates and hands back the calendar, plant count and gear list.
Freeze odds, by date
NOAA flags MANOA LYON ARBO 785.2, HI as having too few 32 °F nights to compute freeze dates: in most years there isn't one. Tender crops can stay out all winter; the constraint is summer heat, which aborts pepper and tomato flowers.
Honolulu planting calendar, 2027
No datable frost, so these rows use the Zone 11+ schedule the Plan Builder runs for heat-limited gardens. Same engine as the Plan Builder.
| Crop | Start indoors | Transplant / plant | First harvest | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardneck GarlicSiberian (porcelain hardneck) | — | Oct 15prior fall | Jun 12 | 240 from sow |
| Spanish OnionYellow Sweet Spanish (long-day) | Oct 23 | Dec 18 | Apr 7 | 110 from transplant |
| Mustard greensGarnet Giant (Brassica juncea) | Direct sow | Jan 15 | Feb 14 | 30 from sow |
| CilantroSlow Bolt (Coriandrum sativum) | Jan 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 15 | 45 from sow |
| Genovese BasilGenovese | Dec 18 | Jan 29 | Mar 30 | 60 from transplant |
| CayenneLong Slim Cayenne (Capsicum annuum) | Nov 20 | Jan 22 | Apr 7 | 75 from transplant |
| HabaneroOrange Habanero (Capsicum chinense) | Nov 6 | Jan 29 | May 4 | 95 from transplant |
| JalapeñoEarly Jalapeño (Capsicum annuum) | Nov 20 | Jan 22 | Apr 7 | 75 from transplant |
| Marconi Red PepperMarconi Red (Capsicum annuum) | Nov 20 | Jan 22 | Apr 12 | 80 from transplant |
| SerranoSerrano Tampiqueño (Capsicum annuum) | Nov 20 | Jan 22 | Apr 12 | 80 from transplant |
| Nantes CarrotScarlet Nantes | Jan 1 | Jan 1 | Mar 12 | 70 from sow |
| TomatilloToma Verde | Dec 4 | Jan 22 | Apr 2 | 70 from transplant |
| Roma TomatoRoma VF (determinate paste) | Dec 4 | Jan 22 | Apr 7 | 75 from transplant |
| San Marzano TomatoSan Marzano (indeterminate paste) | Dec 4 | Jan 22 | Apr 12 | 80 from transplant |
Tight means first harvest lands within two weeks of the median first fall frost: start that crop indoors on time or cover it in fall.
What sauce can Honolulu grow?
Each sauce, scheduled for a Honolulu container garden: when the first seeds go in and when enough fruit has ripened for one batch.
Honolulu frost questions
How long is the growing season in Honolulu, HI?
NOAA counts a full 365-day freeze-free season at MANOA LYON ARBO 785.2, HI in a typical year. What limits a sauce garden here is heat: peppers and tomatoes drop flowers in sustained hot nights, so plant to finish before peak summer or after it breaks.
What growing zone is Honolulu, HI?
USDA hardiness zone 12b, per the 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map for ZIP 96813. A zone describes the coldest winter night, not when frost ends, so it is the wrong number for a planting calendar — the frost dates on this page are the right one.
When should I plant tomatoes in Honolulu, HI?
Start Roma VF (determinate paste) seeds indoors around Dec 4 and transplant around Jan 22, a date set from the zone 11 planning average, since this station has no median frost date to count from. First ripe fruit lands around Apr 7.
When should I plant peppers in Honolulu, HI?
Sow jalapeño indoors on a heat mat around Nov 20; transplant no earlier than Jan 22, and wait past it until nights hold above 50 °F — that can run weeks later. First green pods around Apr 7.
Nearby in Hawaii
All Hawaii frost dates → · How frost-date math drives a sowing calendar →