Yes — Strong Match
horse gram is grown as an annual, so season length decides it here, not a winter zone — and Arkansas's typical season runs ~254 frost-free days against the ~40 horse gram needs.
Horse Gram in Arkansas — the short answer
Horse Gram in Arkansas: grown in zones 8–12, full sun, against a state median of ~254 frost-free days.
- Plant zones
- 8-12
- Not verified
- Arkansas zones
- 6b-8b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Mar 2 - Mar 20 – Nov 15 - Nov 23
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 226 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
- Days to maturity
- 120 days
- Growable Ground Plant Database
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset.
Your yard isn't the whole zone.
Arkansas spans zones 6b-8b, but your yard sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and cold-air pockets nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score horse gram against your parcel's actual hardiness, soil, and sun.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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Arkansas is not one climate
A single Arkansas answer averages 75 counties whose growing seasons are 58 days apart — from 226 frost-free days in Benton County to 284 in Lincoln County. Which end of that your land sits nearer changes what horse gram can finish before the first hard freeze.
The middle half of 75 counties runs 241–266 days, with a median of 254 days — a 58-day span end to end.
Measured across 75 Arkansas counties. NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze. Quartiles are order statistics — every figure shown is a value a real county recorded, not an interpolation. Your own site sits somewhere inside this range; a parcel report resolves where.
Where in Arkansas Fits Best
Even within Arkansas's zones 6b-8b, county microclimates differ enough to change what thrives. These counties carry the closest zone match for horse gram (USDA PHZM 2023):
Zone Comparison
Horse Gram Needs
- USDA Zones: 8-12
- Frost-Free Days: 40+
- Sun: Full Sun
- Mature size: 2 ft tallWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- Picking window: ~14 days of harvestWe haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
- Drought tolerance: High
Arkansas Has
- USDA Zones: 6b-8b
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Mar 2 - Mar 20
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Nov 15 - Nov 23
- Annual Rainfall: 44-56 inches
- Common Soils: Silt loam, Sandy loam, Red clay
Plant Zone Range (zones 8-12)
Preferred Soil pH
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset. State data: USDA ARS PHZM 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NRCS SSURGO.
When to Plant Horse Gram in Arkansas
The frost window
Across Arkansas, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Mar 2 and Mar 20, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 15 and Nov 23 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 240-day window you can count on — up to 266 days on a mild site in a kind year. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost, so tender transplants usually wait another 2-3 weeks.
When to start the seed
Horse Gram is direct-sown where it grows rather than started under cover, so there is no seed-tray head start to bank — Arkansas's dates above are the whole calendar for it. That makes the last-freeze date the binding constraint, and a warmer pocket of your own yard is worth more to this crop than it is to a transplanted one.
Winter standing
Arkansas runs as cold as USDA zone 6, and no sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for horse gram, so this page does not state whether it overwinters here — and gives no fall establishment date on the strength of a guess. Whether horse gram is a permanent planting or a replant-every-spring crop for you turns on your own zone within Arkansas; check its hardiness range against that before treating it as long-lived ground.
Frost window: NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020. Plant timing fields: Growable Ground Plant Database — frost-free days from FAO ECOCROP, days to harvest from university Extension production guides, and growing-degree-day and chill-hour minimums that are compilation estimates rather than published figures. Your site's own frost dates can run earlier or later than the state range — a parcel report pins them down.
Growing Season Fit
Frost-free days
Horse Gram wants 40+ frost-free days; a typical Arkansas site sees ~254 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). That leaves comfortable headroom for succession planting.
Growing degree days
Horse Gram needs ~2500 GDD (base 50°F) to ripen. We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet. The state median runs ~4819 GDD (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), so Arkansas's typical season clears that easily.
GDD and chill-hour figures are computed from PRISM 1991-2020 monthly climate normals; frost-free days from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Each is the state median across its counties (P25/P75 span the within-state spread). Hardiness-zone range is USDA PHZM 2023.
Soil + Drainage Fit
Horse Gram tolerates a wide pH range (pH 5-8) — 3 units, acid ground through alkaline — so soil acidity is rarely what limits it in Arkansas. A soil test is still worth having, but for what else it tells you about this site, not to clear this plant. It will grow across that whole span, but it does best between pH 5.5 and 7 — worth knowing before you decide whether a Arkansas soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells). If your Arkansas site is heavier clay or sits in a low spot, a raised bed lifts the roots above wet ground, or work in compost.
Plant pH requirements: FAO ECOCROP and USDA PLANTS, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Drainage: FAO ECOCROP, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Arkansas soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
Before you plant horse gram for food
Anything you grow to eat takes up what is in the ground it grows in, so what is on record near you is worth knowing before horse gram goes in. What follows is Arkansas’s documented federal record at state scale — a screening signal, not a soil test, and not a statement about any one lot.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Arkansas — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Arkansas — 12,957 documented sites across 7 of the 8 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 88 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Arkansas carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds of imported, lab-tested soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Sources Checked
across Arkansas
Severity Distribution
across Arkansas
Highest-Severity Sites
Know Before You Grow
- •Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
- •TRI facilities report what they release. Check the wind — downwind beds catch more of it.
- •Mine waste leaches heavy metals. Test for lead, arsenic and cadmium before growing food here.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 950K documented sites tracked nationwide across 8 federal source types.
What Else to Consider for Horse Gram in Arkansas
The zone range tells you where horse gram is grown — but Arkansas growers also need to think about:
Hot, humid summers drive fungal and bacterial diseases
Heavy clay soils in parts of the Ozarks
Severe spring storms and hail risk
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Arkansas grower, not just horse gram — is covered on the Arkansas growing guide.
Timing shifts within Arkansas
Horse Gram needs about 40 days of frost-free season to complete its cycle. Even Benton County — Arkansas’s shortest season at 226 frost-free days — clears that by 186 days, so season length isn’t the constraint anywhere in Arkansas. What varies is your own parcel.
County last-freeze dates and frost-free day counts: NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991-2020), county 28°F freeze (earlier than the folk 32°F "last frost"). Horse Gram's 40-day requirement: USDA PLANTS / Growable Ground plant database (minimum frost-free days). A parcel report resolves your address's own frost dates.
Pollinator + Wildlife Value
Horse Gram draws honeybees (low value). Planting it near vegetable beds can lift fruit set on neighboring crops. Outdoors, horse gram can only work that bloom inside Arkansas's frost window — roughly 254 days, opening after the last 28°F freeze (Mar 2 - Mar 20) and closing at the first (Nov 15 - Nov 23), per NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Pollinator value: We haven't confirmed this against a published source yet.
Arkansas Cooperative Extension
For Arkansas-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for horse gram, the canonical source is University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Common Questions About Growing Horse Gram in Arkansas
When can I plant Horse Gram in Arkansas?
Arkansas's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Mar 2 and Mar 20, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Nov 15 and Nov 23 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). No sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for Horse Gram, so this page does not state whether it overwinters in Arkansas and publishes no fall establishment date for it — check its hardiness range against your own zone before treating it as a permanent planting.
What hardiness zone is Horse Gram grown in across Arkansas?
Arkansas spans USDA hardiness zones 6b-8b (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Horse Gram carries a range of zones 8-12, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Arkansas site have?
A typical Arkansas site sees ~254 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Horse Gram needs 40+ frost-free days, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date.
How should I amend the soil for Horse Gram in Arkansas?
Horse Gram tolerates pH 5-8 and well (dry spells) drainage (FAO ECOCROP). That is a 3-unit span, acid ground through alkaline, so pH is rarely what limits this plant on a Arkansas site — amend for drainage and organic matter first.
Will Horse Gram actually grow on my specific land in Arkansas?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores horse gram against your address's mapped soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in Arkansas
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores horse gram against your land's mapped soil, modelled sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Arkansas horse gram averages can't show:
We read public map data around Arkansas — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Arkansas horse gram average
Explore More
Growing guides for horse gram
Explore Arkansas county by county
Arkansas carries 75 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for horse gram there:
Where else horse gram grows
Horse Gram's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Arkansas in winter climate where it also has a page, plus the far ends of its range. Each one re-answers the question with that state's own record.
More to grow in Arkansas
Arkansas has a growing page for 1,012 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
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