When to plant · 9 cities · zones 7a–8a

When to plant carrots in Arkansas

Direct sow nantes carrot around Mar 14 — the Arkansas statewide median, counted from a last spring frost of Mar 28 across 615 ZIP codes and 117 NOAA stations.

Mar 14Direct sowMar 2 – Mar 26 across the state
Mar 28Last spring frostmedian · 1 in 10 years after Apr 13
May 23First harvest70 days from sow

The rule: Direct sow two weeks before the last frost and keep the top half-inch of soil damp for the 14–21 days it takes to germinate.

Arkansas carrots, by step

Statewide median last frost Mar 28, first fall frost Nov 5, 2027 season. Each cultivar's own indoor lead time and days to maturity, same engine as the Plan Builder.

CultivarStart indoorsSowFirst harvestDays
Nantes CarrotScarlet NantesDirect sowMar 14May 2370 from sow

Tight means first harvest lands within two weeks of the median first fall frost. Statewide dates are the ZIP-weighted median of every NOAA 1991–2020 station Arkansas's ZIP codes resolve to.

Carrots in Arkansas, city by city

Nantes Carrot, scheduled from each city's nearest NOAA station — the same dates as its frost page.

CityLast frostSowFirst harvest
Little Rockzone 8aMar 21Mar 7May 16
Fayettevillezone 7aApr 15Apr 1Jun 10
Fort Smithzone 8aMar 25Mar 11May 20
Springdalezone 7aApr 4Mar 21May 30
Jonesborozone 7bApr 1Mar 18May 27
Rogerszone 7aApr 12Mar 29Jun 7
Conwayzone 8aApr 2Mar 19May 28
North Little Rockzone 8aMar 16Mar 2May 11
Bentonvillezone 7aApr 12Mar 29Jun 7

What Arkansas carrots need

SeedsThe cultivar decides the sauce. Everything downstream is damage control.
  • Scarlet Nantes Carrot Seed

    The carrot that makes a fermented habanero sauce work. It brings sweetness and body so the sauce has texture without thickener and heat without being one-dimensional.

StartSoil temperature and light intensity, indoors, weeks before your frost date.
  • Organic Seed Starter Potting MixMust have

    Seed-starting mix is not potting soil with a nicer label — it is finer, lighter, and low in nutrients on purpose, because a seedling's first roots want air and moisture, not fertiliser.

GrowRoot volume, nutrition and structure. Where most home crops actually fail.
  • Ocean Forest Potting SoilMust have

    Pre-charged with enough nutrition to carry a transplant for its first month without feeding, which is exactly the window when most container plants stall.

  • 5-Gallon Fabric Grow Bags, 5-Pack

    Fabric pots air-prune roots and drain faster than a plastic pot can, which is the entire reason container tomatoes fail. Five gallons is the honest minimum for a pepper; a tomato wants ten.

  • Rapitest Soil Test Kit

    In-ground growers are guessing until they test. pH outside 6.0–6.8 locks nutrients out no matter how much fertiliser you add, and no amount of feeding fixes that.

  • 3-in-1 Soil Moisture / Light / pH Tester

    Used for one thing — is the root zone actually dry six inches down — it prevents both halves of the most common container failure. Ignore the pH scale on it entirely.

HarvestTiming, handling, and weighing what you actually got.
  • Garden Harvest Basket with Tool Caddy

    A harvest basket that doubles as a colander means the hose rinse happens in the garden, and the dirt stays outside. On a 20-pound tomato day that is a genuine time saving.

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Carrots in Arkansas: questions

When should I plant carrots in Arkansas?

Direct sow around Mar 14 at the statewide median; across the state that date runs from Mar 2 in the warmest tenth of Arkansas's ZIP codes to Mar 26 in the coldest. To cut the freeze risk to one year in ten, count from Apr 13 instead of the median last frost. Use the city table for your own town.

When is the last frost in Arkansas?

The ZIP-weighted median of NOAA 1991–2020 station medians is Mar 28. In the warmest tenth of Arkansas's ZIP codes the median last frost falls on or before Mar 16; in the coldest tenth, on or after Apr 9.

When will Arkansas carrots be ready to harvest?

Nantes Carrot planted on the statewide date is ready around May 23: 70 days from sow.

More for Arkansas

Carrots in every state → · Arkansas frost dates → · How frost-date math works →