Heating With Pellets in Mississippi: What a Winter Takes
In Jackson, Mississippi averages about 2,222 heating degree days a year, one of the lowest totals in the country outside the Deep South and Florida.
Gardening in Mississippi
Everything we have worked out for Mississippi: what to plant and when, which varieties finish in time, the pests that actually turn up here, and the jobs that pay off month by month. We also cover the rest of the property, from lawns and soil to home care and energy, because a garden rarely stops at the vegetable bed.
The numbers first, because everything else follows from them. Measured at the weather station in Jackson, the last spring freeze runs March 6 to March 22 and the first fall freeze runs November 7 to November 22, USDA zones 7b-9a, 6,057 growing degree days in the year.
Garlic does well: 13 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.
Elsewhere on the property in Mississippi: the pests that turn up here.
Figures from NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals. A state is not one climate: elevation, a large lake or the coast can move these dates by two weeks either way, so check your own county with the extension service before you spend money.
Leaffooted bug in Mississippi: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Leaffooted bugs show up in Mississippi gardens in late summer and early fall, targeting tomatoes and peppers just as fruit is setting.
Squash vine borer in Mississippi: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Squash vine borer shows up in Mississippi gardens from late spring into fall, with the worst damage concentrated late in the season as populations build.
Pickleworm in Mississippi: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Pickleworm shows up late in the Mississippi growing season, not early, and it never overwinters here.
Mole crickets in Mississippi: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Mole crickets show up in Mississippi mainly in the southern half of the state, where sandy soils give them the loose, easy-digging ground they need to…
Harlequin bug in Mississippi: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Harlequin bugs in Mississippi run on a schedule that flips the usual garden calendar: they stay active through fall, winter, and into spring, then go…
Melonworm in Mississippi: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Melonworm shows up in Mississippi gardens late in the growing season, from midsummer into early fall, and disappears again with the first hard freeze…
Yellowmargined leaf beetles in Mississippi: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
In Mississippi, yellowmargined leaf beetles run on a cool-season clock: Mississippi State University Extension Publication 2347 lists them active from…
Vegetable weevil in Mississippi: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Vegetable weevils show up in Mississippi gardens fall through late spring, targeting root and leafy crops during the state’s cool months rather than…
Cowpea curculio in Mississippi: When It Shows Up and What Stops It
Cowpea curculio activity in Mississippi tracks the cowpea and southern pea growing season, roughly from pod set in late spring through harvest in fall.