Laughlin AFB, Texas, sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a — a range where zone-matched perennials and frost-aware annual timing set what succeeds.
The conditions favor artichoke, fig, california poppy, and cabbage, among others — though every individual site edits that list with its own soil, sun, and drainage.
Even in Laughlin AFB, 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 Laughlin AFB 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 Laughlin AFB — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Laughlin AFB — the short answer
Laughlin AFB, Texas: USDA zone 9a, about 282 days between hard freezes, across 4K acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 9a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Feb 20
- Val Verde County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Nov 29
- Val Verde County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Days between freezes
- ~282
- Val Verde County normal — NOAA 1991–2020, nearest to this town
- Town area
- 4K 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 Val Verde County’s — the closest measured record, labelled as such rather than passed off as local.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 9a is Laughlin AFB's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Laughlin AFB's 282-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in Laughlin AFB
Each reading below is measured for Laughlin AFB itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
From county recordsLaughlin AFB runs about 282 days between hard freezes (read from Val Verde County, the closest normal to Laughlin AFB) — close to year-round growing.
Frost is rarely the limit here; winter plantings are as real as summer ones, and the harder question is which crops shrug off the summer heat.
Grow cool-season crops through the mild winter, and choose heat-tolerant varieties for the summer beds.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredLaughlin AFB sits in USDA hardiness zone 9a.
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
The kind of country Laughlin AFB is in
Laughlin AFB sits in the Southern Texas Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Great Plains. That is read at Laughlin AFB's own centroid, and it is not what its county reads: Val Verde County is mostly Chihuahuan Deserts. The wider page above you is answering a different question about different ground.
What Grows in Laughlin AFB
Every plant below cleared Laughlin AFB's own zone 9a and its 282-day season. Each card opens that plant's Texas profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in Laughlin AFB?
Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Cool-season crops can go in from around Jan 23; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Feb 20 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Nov 29 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Here the calendar nearly circles: cool-season crops take the winter shift, and the next window is always close.
What's on the federal record near Laughlin AFB
Closest first, within ~10 miles of Laughlin AFB. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASEBrownfields · 1.1 mi
- LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASEToxics Release Inventory · 1.1 mi
- LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASESuperfund · 1.1 mi
- LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASEPFAS · 1.3 mi
- YR-70-34-801Nitrate · 2.3 mi
- TRAIL WEST TRADING POSTUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.1 mi
- EASY MART & GASUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.3 mi
- TIPTON CARSON DISTUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.3 mi
- WESTEX BULK PLANT-TEXAS STUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.4 mi
- EDDINS WALCHER COToxics Release Inventory · 3.4 mi
- NEAL ONE STOP 1Underground Storage Tanks · 4.2 mi
- CROWN RECYCLINGToxics Release Inventory · 4.7 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Laughlin AFB's center, not your beds. Run your own address for what's upwind of you specifically.
Environmental Intelligence
The counts behind that headline — every source type on the record near Laughlin AFB.
Total Sites
142
within ~10 miles of Laughlin AFB
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
2 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of Laughlin AFB
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of Laughlin AFB
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Laughlin AFB, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of Laughlin AFB — Underground Storage Tanks (111 sites) and Toxics Release Inventory (9 sites). That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Toxics Release Inventory: TRI facilities report annual chemical releases to air, water, and land.
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check prevailing wind direction — downwind parcels face higher exposure than upwind or crosswind locations.
Check your specific parcel in Laughlin AFB
Get exact proximity distances to contamination sources for your specific parcel — plus soil, sun, drainage, and 1,086 plant recommendations.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Laughlin AFB average
Your land is one point inside Laughlin AFB
Everything above resolves to Laughlin AFB as a whole — one PHZM band, read across 4K acres, with hard-freeze dates borrowed from Val Verde County’s record because no 30-year normal resolves at this town’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 town 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 Laughlin AFB Average
Laughlin AFB Average
- ●USDA Zones 9a, averaged across Laughlin AFB
- ●One soil character for all of Laughlin AFB
- ●Frost dates read at Laughlin AFB's scale: Feb 20 to Nov 29
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Laughlin AFB's 9a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in Laughlin AFB
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Laughlin AFB, Texas — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Laughlin AFB averages can't show:
We read public map data around Laughlin AFB — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Laughlin AFB average
How we know this about Laughlin AFB
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this town’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at Val Verde County’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 town grain anywhere on this page — there is no town-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 Laughlin AFB
When does frost risk typically end in Laughlin AFB?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Laughlin AFB typically lands around Feb 20, 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 Mar 13.
When is the first frost in Laughlin AFB?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in Laughlin AFB typically arrives around Nov 29, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Nov 15, so the watching starts about Oct 30 — about 282 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in Laughlin AFB?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Laughlin AFB sees about 282 frost-free days — roughly Feb 20 through Nov 29, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Mar 13 to Nov 15, about 247 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Laughlin AFB?
The federal record around Laughlin AFB is a meaningful one — 142 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (111), the nearest Brownfields record about 1.1 miles out — so a soil test before new food beds is a sensible precaution here, not a reason to hold back from growing. Remember that proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what sits where.
How do I protect my plants from frost in Laughlin AFB?
From about Oct 30 the job here turns from planting to protecting — the last start even a 30-day crop can finish. As the season closes around the first 28°F hard freeze near Nov 29 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals), three moves buy time: row cover or an old sheet over tender plants on still, clear nights; water the soil the afternoon before a freeze, so it holds warmth overnight; and harvest tomatoes, peppers and basil before Nov 29. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at Laughlin AFB's scale — its 9a band and its 282-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Laughlin AFB'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 Laughlin AFB’s own scale
5 of the readings below were taken at Laughlin AFB's own scale — the 4,079 acres it covers and 142 documented sites around it; 5 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Laughlin AFB's own USDA hardiness band, zones 9aUSDA PHZM 2023
- 142 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Laughlin AFB, the closest Brownfields record about 1.1 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- Laughlin AFB's boundary and the 4,079 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 9a and a ~282-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- Laughlin AFB sits in the Southern Texas Plains — not the ecoregion its county mostly readsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- The 28°F hard-freeze dates — Laughlin AFB has no normal of its own, so its county's is the closest measured readfrom Val Verde County
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Laughlin AFB's 4,079 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Val Verde County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Val Verde County
- The growing challenges every Texas grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Texas
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Val Verde County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Laughlin AFB's 4,079 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of Laughlin AFB you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 4,079 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Brownfields record about 1.1 miles out, measured from the town centrehow we read the record →
- 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 Laughlin AFB-wide figureread your own land →
More in Texas
Wider growing context
What grows across TexasLaughlin AFB sits outside our named growing regions, so Texas as a whole is its closest context here.
Nearby growing guides