What Grows in Kincaid, West Virginia

USDA Zones 7a · 551 acres

Kincaid, West Virginia, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a — a band that supports both cool-season staples and warm-season crops chosen to fit the local frost window.

The conditions favor cabbage, hazelnut, california poppy, and collard greens, among others — though every individual site edits that list with its own soil, sun, and drainage.

Score your parcel · free

Even in Kincaid, 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 Kincaid 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 Kincaid — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.

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Kincaid — the short answer

Kincaid, West Virginia: USDA zone 7a, about 210 days between hard freezes, across 551 acres of town.

USDA zone
7a
USDA PHZM 2023
Last hard freeze (28°F)
Apr 4
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
First hard freeze (28°F)
Oct 31
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Days between freezes
~210
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
Town area
551 acres
US Census TIGER/Line 2025

Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are this town’s own 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.

Hardiness Zone Range

7a7a
3a (Cold)13b (Hot)

Zone 7a is Kincaid's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Kincaid's 210-day season, see what your own ground reads.

Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.

What this means for growing in Kincaid

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

Season length

Measured

Kincaid runs about 210 days between hard freezes — a long growing season.

There is slack for succession plantings and slow-finishing crops: many vegetables can be sown twice, and the heat-lovers have time to ripen fully.

Plan a second sowing of quick crops after the first comes out, and use the fall window most gardeners let sit idle.

NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals

Winter hardiness

Measured

Kincaid sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a.

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 Kincaid is in

Kincaid sits in the Central Appalachians — EPA Level III, inside the wider Eastern Temperate Forests. That is read at Kincaid's own centroid rather than borrowed from Fayette County.

What that means for soil

What Grows in Kincaid

Every plant below cleared Kincaid's own zone 7a and its 210-day season. Each card opens that plant's West Virginia profile. How we score.

cabbage, photograph
Growing cabbage in West VirginiaZones 2–11Kincaid's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
hazelnut, photograph
West Virginia hazelnut guideZones 4–9Kincaid's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
California poppy, photograph
California poppy in West VirginiaZones 6–10Kincaid's 7a — 1 zone of cold margin.
collard greens, photograph
Collard greens: West Virginia growing notesZones 2–11Kincaid's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
pawpaw, photograph
Growing pawpaw in West VirginiaZones 5–9Kincaid's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
lavender, photograph
West Virginia lavender guideZones 5–8Kincaid's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
garlic, photograph
Garlic in West VirginiaZones 2–10Kincaid's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
pecan, photograph
Pecan: West Virginia growing notesZones 5–9Kincaid's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
Turkish rocket, photograph
Growing turkish rocket in West VirginiaKincaid's 210 days clear the ~90 it needs.
kale, photograph
West Virginia kale guideZones 2–11Kincaid's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
prickly pear, photograph
Prickly pear in West VirginiaZones 5–10Kincaid's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
lentil, photograph
Lentil: West Virginia growing notesZones 2–11Kincaid's 210 days clear the ~70 it needs.
apple, photograph
Growing apple in West VirginiaZones 3–8Kincaid's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
okra, photograph
West Virginia okra guideZones 2–12Kincaid's 210 days clear the ~50 it needs.
potato, photograph
Potato in West VirginiaZones 2–11Kincaid's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
iris, photograph
Iris: West Virginia growing notesZones 3–10Kincaid's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
sunflower, photograph
Growing sunflower in West VirginiaZones 2–11Kincaid's 210 days clear the ~70 it needs.
holly, photograph
West Virginia holly guideZones 5–11Kincaid's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.
hops, photograph
Hops in West VirginiaZones 3–8Kincaid's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
hosta, photograph
Hosta: West Virginia growing notesZones 3–8Kincaid's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
French marigold, photograph
Growing french marigold in West VirginiaKincaid's 210 days clear the ~50 it needs.
lilac, photograph
West Virginia lilac guideZones 4–10Kincaid's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Virginia creeper, photograph
Virginia creeper in West VirginiaZones 3–9Kincaid's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
tulip, photograph
Tulip: West Virginia growing notesZones 6–8Kincaid's 7a — 1 zone of cold margin.
American elm, photograph
Growing american elm in West VirginiaZones 3–9Kincaid's 7a — 4 zones of cold margin.
Ethiopian mustard, photograph
West Virginia ethiopian mustard guideZones 4–10Kincaid's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Kentucky bluegrass, botanical illustration
Kentucky bluegrass in West VirginiaZones 2–7Kincaid's 7a — 5 zones of cold margin.
Douglas fir, photograph
Douglas fir: West Virginia growing notesZones 4–10Kincaid's 7a — 3 zones of cold margin.
Japanese millet, photograph
Growing japanese millet in West VirginiaZones 5–10Kincaid's 210 days clear the ~45 it needs.
Eastern gamagrass, photograph
West Virginia eastern gamagrass guideZones 5–9Kincaid's 7a — 2 zones of cold margin.

Is it too late to plant in Kincaid?

Rarely: the season closes in stages, not all at once, and each stage has its crops. Cool-season crops can go in from around Mar 7; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 4 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 31 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. There is slack in a calendar like this — late plantings, second rounds of favorites, and a fall bench that keeps beds working.

Documented around Kincaid

Survey cells within 31 miles of Kincaid checked for spotted lanternfly, none carrying a detection — a surveyed negative, not an absence of looking. Nearest documented record 74 miles off. What to watch for.

What's on the federal record near Kincaid

Closest first, within ~10 miles of Kincaid. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.

  1. EVON'S SUNOCOUnderground Storage Tanks · 1800 ft
  2. MIDLAND TRAIL HIGH SCHOOLUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.2 mi
  3. CARLOS ATKINSUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.2 mi
  4. CONVENIENCE FOODSUnderground Storage Tanks · 1.3 mi
  5. Fay-0188Nitrate · 1.7 mi
  6. Fay-0290Nitrate · 2.2 mi
  7. Fay-0267Nitrate · 2.5 mi
  8. FRASURE CREEK MINE #5Brownfields · 2.8 mi
  9. BEARDS FORK SUPPLY HOUSEUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
  10. DALE'S MARTUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
  11. SPONAGGLE GROCERY SERVICE STATIOUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
  12. BOB'S COUNTRY STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi

6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map

Measured from Kincaid'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 Kincaid.

Total Sites

284

within ~10 miles of Kincaid

Risk Level

Elevated

Highest-severity

2 Superfund sites

Severity Distribution

within ~10 miles of Kincaid

High1Moderate91Low192

Highest-Severity Sites

Shaffer Equipment/Arbuckle Creek Area
Superfund · Superfund NPL
Appalachian Mining INC
Toxics Release Inventory · 25031PPLCHUSRTE
Ball'S Grocery
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
CO Mac INC #2
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)
Comac #4
Underground Storage Tanks · Open UST(S)

Know Before You Grow

  • Underground tanks leak petroleum as they age — near a former filling station, test the soil.
  • Near a brownfield, raised beds of imported soil give your food clean ground.
  • On a private well, test for nitrates: above 10 mg/L the water needs treatment before irrigating.
Free Report

Check your specific parcel in Kincaid

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 Kincaid average

Your land is one point inside Kincaid

Everything above resolves to Kincaid as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 551 acres. 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 Kincaid Average

Kincaid Average

  • USDA Zones 7a, averaged across Kincaid
  • One soil character for all of Kincaid
  • Frost dates read at Kincaid's scale: Apr 4 to Oct 31

YOUR Parcel

  • Your exact zone, not Kincaid's 7a
  • Your SSURGO soil type & pH
  • Your sun exposure, cast in 3D

See MY Growing Report

Free Report

Read your specific parcel in Kincaid

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

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

Your soil pHYour frost-free days — Kincaid averages 210Your sun & shade

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

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

How we know this about Kincaid

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 Kincaid’s own record; 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 Kincaid

When does frost risk typically end in Kincaid?

The last hard freeze (28°F) in Kincaid typically lands around Apr 4, 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 Apr 25.

When is the first frost in Kincaid?

The first hard freeze (28°F) in Kincaid typically arrives around Oct 31, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 17, so the watching starts about Oct 1 — about 210 days after the spring freeze cleared.

How long is the growing season in Kincaid?

Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Kincaid sees about 210 frost-free days — roughly Apr 4 through Oct 31, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer Apr 25 to Oct 17, about 175 days.

Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Kincaid?

The federal record around Kincaid is a meaningful one — 284 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (147), the nearest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 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 Kincaid?

From about Oct 1 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 Oct 31 (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 Oct 31. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.

Everything above is measured at Kincaid's scale — its 7a band and its 210-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Kincaid'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 Kincaid’s own scale

7 of the readings below were taken at Kincaid's own scale — its own ~210-day season between 28°F freezes, the 551 acres it covers and 284 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.

Measured here

  • Kincaid's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7aUSDA PHZM 2023
  • Kincaid's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 4 and Oct 31 and the ~210-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
  • 284 documented contamination sites on the federal record near Kincaid, the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 miles out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
  • Kincaid's boundary and the 551 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
  • Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7a and a ~210-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
  • The ecoregion at Kincaid's own centroid, the Central AppalachiansUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
  • Lanternfly survey cells around Kincaid checked, none carrying a detectionlydemapr (De Bona & Helmus), 10 km survey lattice

Inherited from a wider read

  • Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so Kincaid's 551 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Fayette County
  • Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Fayette County
  • The growing challenges every West Virginia grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom West Virginia
  • Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Fayette County

What this page can’t tell you

  • The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Kincaid's 551 acreswhy one lot differs from the next
  • Which side of Kincaid you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 551 acresreading your own microclimate
  • How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Underground Storage Tanks record about 0.3 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 Kincaid-wide figureread your own land
The next step finer is your own address