Gardening in Argentina: climate, frost dates and crops by region

Climate zones of Argentina

By the days between the last spring frost and the first autumn frost.

How the regions of Argentina differ

Splitting the cities in two — north (San Salvador de Jujuy, Salta, Formosa and 16 more) and south (Río Cuarto, San Luis, Venado Tuerto and 16 more): the last spring frost comes about 34 days later in the south; the frost-free season is about 328 days in the north and 292 days in the south; the warmest month averages 31.1 °C by day in the north and 29.2 °C in the south; the north gets about 967 mm of rain a year and the south about 644 mm.

Splitting the cities in two — west (Santa Rosa, Río Cuarto, Puerto Madryn and 16 more) and east (Posadas, Mar del Plata, La Plata and 16 more): the last spring frost comes about 34 days later in the west; the frost-free season is about 297 days in the west and 325 days in the east; the warmest month averages 29.7 °C by day in the west and 30.7 °C in the east; the west gets about 497 mm of rain a year and the east about 950 mm.

The gap between the warmest month’s days and the coldest month’s nights is widest in San Juan (31.2 °C) and smallest in Ushuaia (15.3 °C): the smaller it is, the milder both winter and summer. Posadas is the wettest of these cities with 1,819 mm a year, San Juan the driest with 130 mm. The hottest summer days are in La Rioja (34.7 °C on average in the warmest month), the coolest in Ushuaia (11.2 °C). In 3 of the 38 cities at least one month averages below 0 °C at night; the longest such winter is in Bariloche (May–October).

Which crops suit which part of Argentina

Season long enough: the days from planting to the first autumn frost cover the days to the first harvest on the plant card. Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

Cities without a spring frost: months that suit each crop

Months whose average day is not above the highest temperature on the plant card and whose average night is not below its lowest.

Cities of Argentina: weather in numbers

ERA5 2016–2025 via Open-Meteo, 25 km grid cell of each city; dates by the Greenly calendar and the plant cards.

More about Argentina

• Argentina: frost dates by city
• Selling your harvest in Argentina
• Where to buy seeds and plants
• When to plant tomatoes in Argentina
• When to plant cucumbers in Argentina
• When to plant peas in Argentina
• When to plant garlic in Argentina
• When to plant tulips in Argentina
• Gardening by country