What Grows in Manokotak, Alaska

USDA Zones 4b · 47K acres

Manokotak, Alaska, sits in USDA hardiness zone 4b — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.

Among the crops suited to this profile: cabbage, cranberry, cilantro, and collard greens. The site-level story — soil, sun, drainage — decides the rest.

Score your parcel · free

Even in Manokotak, no two yards are alike.

A low spot, a south-facing slope, or a stand of trees moves the frost date and sun across a single Manokotak lot. Enter your address and we'll score 1,086 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.

We read public map data around Manokotak — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

No card required · your full report in seconds

Manokotak — the short answer

Manokotak, Alaska: USDA zone 4b, about 135 days between hard freezes, across 47K acres of city.

USDA zone
4b
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
May 13
Dillingham Census Area normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Sep 25
Dillingham Census Area normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
Days between freezes
~135
Dillingham Census Area normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
City area
47K acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. No 30-year normal resolves at this town’s own centroid, so the hard-freeze dates are Dillingham Census Area’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.

Hardiness Zone Range

4b4b
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 4b is Manokotak's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Manokotak's 135-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Manokotak

Each reading below is measured for Manokotak itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.

Season length

From county records

Manokotak runs about 135 days between hard freezes (read from Dillingham Census Area, the closest normal to Manokotak) — a short growing season.

Long-maturing crops like melons, sweet potatoes, and winter squash can run out of runway before the first hard freeze, ripening late or not at all.

Lead with fast-maturing varieties, and stretch the season on both ends with cold frames, low tunnels, or a greenhouse.

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

Manokotak sits in USDA hardiness zone 4b.

The zone sets which perennials, shrubs, and fruit trees live through an average winter here — a plant rated for a colder zone is a safe bet, one rated warmer needs winter protection or gets treated as an annual.

Match perennials and fruit to the zone before you buy, so nothing you plant is a gamble against the cold.

USDA PHZM 2023

What Grows in Manokotak

Every plant below cleared Manokotak's own zone 4b and its 135-day season. Each card opens that plant's Alaska profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in AlaskaZones 2–11Manokotak's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
cranberry, photograph
Alaska cranberry guideZones 2–7Manokotak's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
cilantro, photograph
Cilantro in AlaskaZones 2–11Manokotak's 135 days clear the ~35 it needs.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: Alaska growing notesZones 2–11Manokotak's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
Growing hazelnut in AlaskaZones 4–9Manokotak's 4b is its exact cold limit.
epazote, photograph
Alaska epazote guideManokotak's 135 days clear the ~60 it needs.
kale, photograph
Kale in AlaskaZones 2–11Manokotak's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
blueberry, photograph
Blueberry: Alaska growing notesZones 3–8Manokotak's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
shiso, photograph
Growing shiso in AlaskaManokotak's 135 days clear the ~80 it needs.
lentil, photograph
Alaska lentil guideZones 2–11Manokotak's 135 days clear the ~70 it needs.
apple, photograph
Apple in AlaskaZones 3–8Manokotak's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
okra, photograph
Okra: Alaska growing notesZones 2–12Manokotak's 135 days clear the ~50 it needs.
rhubarb, photograph
Growing rhubarb in AlaskaZones 2–8Manokotak's 135 days clear the ~60 it needs.
sweet corn, photograph
Alaska sweet corn guideZones 2–11Manokotak's 135 days clear the ~65 it needs.
zucchini, photograph
Zucchini in AlaskaZones 2–11Manokotak's 135 days clear the ~40 it needs.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: Alaska growing notesZones 3–8Manokotak's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in AlaskaZones 2–11Manokotak's 135 days clear the ~70 it needs.
azalea, photograph
Alaska azalea guideZones 4–8Manokotak's 4b is its exact cold limit.
hops, photograph
Hops in AlaskaZones 3–8Manokotak's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: Alaska growing notesZones 3–10Manokotak's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in AlaskaManokotak's 135 days clear the ~50 it needs.
lilac, photograph
Alaska lilac guideZones 4–10Manokotak's 4b is its exact cold limit.
American bittersweet, photograph
American bittersweet in AlaskaZones 3–8Manokotak's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
Siberian squill, photograph
Siberian squill: Alaska growing notesZones 2–8Manokotak's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
blue spruce, photograph
Growing blue spruce in AlaskaZones 2–8Manokotak's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
field pea, photograph
Alaska field pea guideZones 2–10Manokotak's 135 days clear the ~60 it needs.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in AlaskaZones 2–7Manokotak's 4b — 2 zones of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
American elm: Alaska growing notesZones 3–9Manokotak's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.
turnip cover crop, photograph
Growing turnip cover crop in AlaskaZones 2–10Manokotak's 135 days clear the ~40 it needs.
Canada wild rye, photograph
Alaska canada wild rye guideZones 3–8Manokotak's 4b — 1 zone of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Manokotak?

Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 15; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near May 13 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Sep 25 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. When the window is tight, the fall moves are quick ones — baby greens, radishes, and garlic set for next season.

Environmental Check

No contamination sources found near Manokotak

We checked 9 federal environmental databases and found no recorded contamination sites in this area. A clean starting point for growing.

Your land is one point inside Manokotak

Everything above resolves to Manokotak as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 47K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Dillingham Census Area’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this city’s own centroid. Your parcel is one point inside that footprint. Slope, tree cover, a low spot that pools cold air, and what is in the soil are all resolved at the address, and none of them are visible at city scale. That is the honest boundary of this page, and the reason the next step is a reading of your own ground rather than a better local average.

Your Lot vs the Manokotak Average

Manokotak Average

  • USDA Zones 4b, averaged across Manokotak
  • One soil character for all of Manokotak
  • Frost dates read at Manokotak's scale: May 13 to Sep 25

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Manokotak's 4b
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Manokotak

Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Manokotak, Alaska — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.

Three things about your lot that Manokotak averages can't show:

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Manokotak averages 135Your sun & shade

We read public map data around Manokotak — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

25+ data sources read at your address, not the Manokotak average

How we know this about Manokotak

The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this city’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Dillingham Census Area’s record, because none resolves here; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Soil is not read at city grain anywhere on this page — there is no city-resolution survey in our data, which is why you will find no soil grid here rather than a statewide one wearing a local label. The resolution ledger below names every figure this page inherited.

Common questions about Manokotak

When does frost risk typically end in Manokotak?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Manokotak typically lands around May 13, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — earlier than the light-frost dates most charts quote. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — lighter frosts keep biting past it, which is why tender transplants here wait until about Jun 3.

When is the first frost in Manokotak?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Manokotak typically arrives around Sep 25, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Sep 11, so the watching starts about Aug 26 — about 135 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Manokotak?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Manokotak sees about 135 frost-free days — roughly May 13 through Sep 25, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Jun 3 to Sep 11, about 100 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Manokotak?

No database can certify soil, but the federal record here is clean: we checked all 9 federal contamination source types and found no documented sites within the search radii around Manokotak. That means nothing is on record — not that the land is certified clean — so a one-time soil test is still the way to know your own yard's history.

How do gardeners stretch the season in Manokotak?

With about 135 frost-free days between hard freezes, Manokotak rewards the classic extension moves: floating row cover buys roughly two to four extra weeks at each shoulder — on this season that is a working window nearer 163 to 191 days — and cold frames or low tunnels buy more. Starting transplants indoors ahead of the May 13 hard-freeze normal stretches the season without touching the calendar.

Everything above is measured at Manokotak's scale — its 4b band and its 135-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Manokotak's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.

What this page reads at Manokotak’s own scale

3 of the readings below were taken at Manokotak's own scale — the 47,149 acres it covers; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Manokotak's own USDA hardiness band, zones 4bUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Manokotak's boundary and the 47,149 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 4b and a ~135-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine

Inherited from a wider read

  • The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Manokotak has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Dillingham Census Area
  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Manokotak's 47,149 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Dillingham County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Dillingham County
  • The growing challenges every Alaska grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Alaska
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Dillingham County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Manokotak's 47,149 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Manokotak you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 47,149 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How much sun your beds actually get once the trees leaf outmeasuring sun honestly
  • Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — measured at your address, and averaged away by any Manokotak-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address

More in Alaska

Wider growing context

What grows across Alaska

Manokotak sits outside our named growing regions, so Alaska as a whole is its closest context here.