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

We worked out the season of 48 cities of Brazil from ten years of weather: the frost-free season lasts from 314 days in Lages to 346 days in Cascavel. The last spring frost comes first in Caxias do Sul (around 13 July) and last in Lages (around 14 August). 39 of the cities had no frost at all.

Climate zones of Brazil

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

Zone	Cities	Frost-free days	Last spring frost	First autumn frost
270 frost-free days or more	Cascavel, Ponta Grossa, Guarapuava, Chapecó, Lages, Passo Fundo, Caxias do Sul, Santa Maria	314 – 346	13 July – 14 August	13 June – 29 June
Frost without a regular season	Curitiba	—	19 July	—
No frost in ten years	Boa Vista, Macapá, Belém, São Luís, Manaus, Fortaleza, Teresina, Natal, João Pessoa, Recife, Porto Velho, Maceió, Rio Branco, Palmas, Aracaju, Salvador, Cuiabá, Brasília, Goiânia, Uberlândia, Belo Horizonte, Vitória, Campo Grande, Ribeirão Preto, Juiz de Fora, Poços de Caldas, Rio de Janeiro, Campinas, São José dos Campos, Londrina, Maringá, Sorocaba, São Paulo, Santos, Joinville, Blumenau, Florianópolis, Porto Alegre, Pelotas	—	—	—

How the regions of Brazil differ

Splitting the cities in two — north (Boa Vista, Macapá, Belém and 21 more) and south (Juiz de Fora, Poços de Caldas, Rio de Janeiro and 21 more): the warmest month averages 31.6 °C by day in the north and 27.8 °C in the south.

Splitting the cities in two — west (Florianópolis, Joinville, Blumenau and 21 more) and east (João Pessoa, Recife, Natal and 21 more): the west gets about 1,612 mm of rain a year and the east about 1,258 mm.

The gap between the warmest month’s days and the coldest month’s nights is widest in Santa Maria (20.8 °C) and smallest in São Luís (6.2 °C): the smaller it is, the milder both winter and summer. Belém is the wettest of these cities with 2,521 mm a year, Goiânia the driest with 932 mm. The hottest summer days are in Teresina (36.4 °C on average in the warmest month), the coolest in Guarapuava (24.7 °C). In none of these cities does a month average below 0 °C at night.

Which crops suit which part of Brazil

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.

Crop	Planting out or sowing	Season long enough	Tight or too short
Tomato	20 July (Caxias do Sul) – 8 March (Cascavel)	all 9	—
Cucumber	25 July (Cascavel) – 13 April (Cascavel)	all 9	—
Bell Pepper, Eggplant	25 July (Cascavel) – 8 March (Cascavel)	all 9	—
Zucchini	25 July (Cascavel) – 11 April (Cascavel)	all 9	—
Pumpkin	25 July (Cascavel) – 3 March (Cascavel)	all 9	—
Watermelon	25 July (Cascavel) – 19 March (Cascavel)	all 9	—
Peas	22 June (Caxias do Sul) – 11 April (Ponta Grossa)	8 of 9: Ponta Grossa, Guarapuava, Curitiba, Chapecó and 4 more	1 of 9: Cascavel
Garlic, Tulip, Daffodil, Crocus, Hyacinth	Autumn planting: by 30 May (Cascavel)	—	—

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.

City	Tomato	Cucumber	Bell Pepper	Eggplant	Watermelon
Boa Vista	none	all year	May–July	June, July	all year
Macapá	none	all year	December–July	January–June	all year
Belém	none	all year	January–April	none	all year
São Luís	none	all year	December–July	January–April	all year
Manaus	none	all year	December–June	none	all year
Fortaleza	none	all year	January–July	none	all year
Teresina	none	December–August	none	none	December–August
Natal	none	all year	all year	April–October	all year
João Pessoa	none	all year	all year	May–October	all year
Recife	July, August	all year	all year	May–October	all year
Porto Velho	none	all year	February–May	none	all year
Maceió	June–September	all year	all year	April–November	all year
Rio Branco	none	all year	December–June	none	all year
Palmas	none	October–August	January–March	none	October–August
Aracaju	June–September	all year	March–January	May–November	all year
Salvador	May–September	all year	all year	April–December	all year
Cuiabá	none	October–August	none	none	October–August
Brasília	November–April	September–March	August–May	none	September–March
Goiânia	none	September–April	November–June	none	September–April
Uberlândia	May	September–April	August and November–June	none	September–April
Belo Horizonte	October–April	January–March	September–April	none	January–March
Vitória	May–October	all year	all year	April and October–December	all year
Campo Grande	May, June	August–May	January–August	none	August–May
Ribeirão Preto	none	September–April	August and November–May	none	September–April
Juiz de Fora	March, April and October–December	December–March	September–April	none	December–March
Poços de Caldas	December–March	none	October–March	none	none
Rio de Janeiro	May–November	September–June	March–January	April and December	September–June
Campinas	none	December–March	September–April	none	December–March
São José dos Campos	April and November	December–March	September–April	none	December–March
Londrina	none	November–March	September–April	none	November–March
Maringá	none	October–April	January–May and September, October	none	October–April
Sorocaba	none	December–March	September–April	none	December–March
São Paulo	March, April and October, November	January–March	October–April	none	January–March
Santos	April–November	September–May	all year	December–April	September–May
Joinville	April, May and September–November	October–April	September–May	December–March	October–April
Blumenau	November–April	December–March	October–April	none	December–March
Florianópolis	October–May	November–April	September–May	January–March	November–April
Porto Alegre	April and November	December–March	March, April and October–December	none	December–March
Pelotas	March, April and November, December	December–March	November–April	January	December–March

Cities of Brazil: weather in numbers

City	Frost-free days	Warmest month, day	Coldest month, night	Rain a year	Driest month	Places to buy
Boa Vista	no frost	March, 33.4 °C	July, 22.8 °C	2,181 mm	February	—
Macapá	no frost	October, 32.4 °C	January, 23.4 °C	2,308 mm	October	—
Belém	no frost	October, 33 °C	March, 24 °C	2,521 mm	September	17
São Luís	no frost	September, 30.5 °C	March, 24.3 °C	2,420 mm	September	16
Manaus	no frost	September, 32.7 °C	June, 22.7 °C	2,183 mm	August	23
Fortaleza	no frost	November, 30.7 °C	July, 23.8 °C	1,325 mm	September	21
Teresina	no frost	October, 36.4 °C	February, 22.7 °C	1,693 mm	September	—
Natal	no frost	December, 29.5 °C	July, 22.7 °C	1,409 mm	November	20
João Pessoa	no frost	February, 29.6 °C	July, 22.8 °C	1,415 mm	November	—
Recife	no frost	February, 29.8 °C	July, 21.2 °C	1,515 mm	November	21
Porto Velho	no frost	September, 33.8 °C	July, 21.6 °C	2,189 mm	July	—
Maceió	no frost	January, 29.2 °C	August, 22.8 °C	1,346 mm	October	—
Rio Branco	no frost	September, 33.6 °C	July, 19.7 °C	1,796 mm	July	—
Palmas	no frost	September, 35.6 °C	July, 21.3 °C	1,506 mm	July	—
Aracaju	no frost	February, 30.1 °C	July, 22.5 °C	1,133 mm	December	—
Salvador	no frost	February, 29.2 °C	August, 22.2 °C	1,249 mm	February	27
Cuiabá	no frost	September, 35.9 °C	July, 18.7 °C	1,211 mm	July	23
Brasília	no frost	September, 29.5 °C	July, 13.8 °C	1,178 mm	July	22
Goiânia	no frost	September, 33.5 °C	July, 14.9 °C	932 mm	July	16
Uberlândia	no frost	September, 31.3 °C	July, 14.8 °C	1,096 mm	July	17
Belo Horizonte	no frost	September, 27.1 °C	July, 12.9 °C	1,165 mm	July	15
Vitória	no frost	February, 30 °C	July, 18.3 °C	1,164 mm	July	—
Campo Grande	no frost	September, 32.2 °C	July, 16.6 °C	1,183 mm	July	8
Ribeirão Preto	no frost	September, 31.8 °C	July, 13.3 °C	1,061 mm	July	10
Juiz de Fora	no frost	February, 27.3 °C	July, 12.5 °C	1,407 mm	July	1
Poços de Caldas	no frost	September, 26.3 °C	July, 10.3 °C	1,174 mm	July	2
Rio de Janeiro	no frost	February, 30.2 °C	July, 17.9 °C	1,063 mm	June	24
Campinas	no frost	September, 29.1 °C	July, 12.2 °C	1,193 mm	July	21
São José dos Campos	no frost	December, 28.4 °C	July, 11.8 °C	1,267 mm	July	10
Londrina	no frost	November, 29.3 °C	July, 12.8 °C	1,329 mm	July	18
Maringá	no frost	November, 30.1 °C	July, 13.6 °C	1,454 mm	July	5
Sorocaba	no frost	December, 29.2 °C	July, 12.2 °C	1,156 mm	July	7
São Paulo	no frost	January, 27.2 °C	July, 11.4 °C	1,237 mm	July	32
Santos	no frost	February, 28.7 °C	July, 16.5 °C	1,866 mm	July	—
Cascavel	346	January, 27.6 °C	July, 12 °C	1,536 mm	July	3
Ponta Grossa	341	January, 26.4 °C	July, 9.6 °C	1,387 mm	July	5
Guarapuava	323	December, 24.7 °C	July, 8.9 °C	1,779 mm	July	3
Curitiba	—	January, 25.5 °C	July, 9.4 °C	1,467 mm	July	23
Joinville	no frost	January, 28.9 °C	July, 13.6 °C	1,814 mm	July	9
Blumenau	no frost	January, 27 °C	July, 10.6 °C	1,869 mm	July	23
Chapecó	325	January, 27.1 °C	July, 8.8 °C	1,791 mm	July	17
Florianópolis	no frost	February, 26.8 °C	July, 13.2 °C	1,522 mm	July	16
Lages	314	January, 25.6 °C	July, 7.4 °C	1,559 mm	July	3
Passo Fundo	334	January, 27.9 °C	July, 9.3 °C	1,781 mm	August	4
Caxias do Sul	339	January, 27.1 °C	July, 9.5 °C	1,838 mm	August	19
Santa Maria	332	January, 30.6 °C	July, 9.8 °C	1,665 mm	February	11
Porto Alegre	no frost	January, 30.7 °C	July, 10.5 °C	1,488 mm	February	21
Pelotas	no frost	January, 28.2 °C	July, 9.6 °C	1,467 mm	February	21

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