Arugula planting calendar
When to plant arugula — pick your state
Arugula timing swings hard by climate — choose your state for sow, transplant, and harvest dates calibrated to its USDA zone and frost window.
Northeast
Southeast
Midwest
Southwest
West
Pacific
Not listed: Hawaii — the dominant climate zone there is outside arugula's practical range, so a generic calendar would mislead more than it helps.
Common questions
When should I plant arugula?
Arugula is one of the most cold-tolerant salad greens — direct-sow 3-5 weeks before the last spring frost; it germinates reliably in soil as cool as 7 °C and seedlings survive light frost. It bolts quickly once daytime temperatures exceed 24 °C, turning leaves peppery-bitter, so succession-sow every 2 weeks and switch to heat-tolerant varieties (e.g. 'Astro') for late-spring runs. In zones 7–11, grow it as a fall and winter crop instead. Because the right window depends on your local frost dates, pick your US state above for a calendar with exact sow, transplant, and harvest dates.
Does the best time to plant arugula vary by state?
Yes — planting dates swing by several weeks across the US because each state sits in a different USDA zone with its own frost window. Every state page here gives arugula dates calibrated to that state's climate.
How are these arugula planting dates calculated?
Each state's dates come from that state's dominant USDA hardiness zone and NOAA average frost dates, then adjusted for arugula's cold tolerance and days to maturity.