🥜 When to Plant Peanuts

🥬 Vegetable
Warm Season

Needs 130-150 frost-free days; peg develops underground after flowers bloom

📅 Planting Calendar by USDA Zone

Select your zone to highlight your exact planting dates. Dates are calculated from each zone's average frost dates.

Find my zone
Zone Last Frost Start Indoors Transplant Direct Sow
Zone 2A May 30 May 30
Zone 3B May 15 May 15
Zone 4A May 8 May 8
Zone 4B May 1 May 1
Zone 5A Apr 25 Apr 25
Zone 5B Apr 18 Apr 18
Zone 6A Apr 21 Apr 21
Zone 6B Apr 10 Apr 10
Zone 7A Apr 5 Apr 5
Zone 7B Mar 28 Mar 28
Zone 8A Mar 20 Mar 20
Zone 8B Mar 12 Mar 12
Zone 9A Feb 28 Feb 28
Zone 9B Feb 15 Feb 15
Zone 10A Feb 1 Feb 1
Zone 10B Jan 15 Jan 15
Zone 11A Jan 1 Jan 1

Peanuts are a quirky and rewarding warm-season crop. After the flowers bloom, ‘pegs’ bend down and push into the soil to form peanuts underground.

Top Growing Tips

  • Needs 120-150 frost-free days — short-season growers should start early
  • Plant in loose, sandy, well-draining soil for best development
  • After flowering, mound soil around plants to cover the developing pegs
  • Do not add extra nitrogen — like all legumes, they fix their own
  • Pull entire plant and cure 2-3 weeks before shelling

Companion Planting

Good companions: sunflowers, corn

Avoid planting near: onions, garlic, brassicas

Harvest Timeline

120-150 days; harvest when leaves yellow and pods have papery skin