Vegetable Planting Calendar: When to Plant Every Crop, Any Zone

The best vegetable planting calendar is built around two dates: your average last spring frost and your average first fall frost. Hardy crops like peas and spinach go in 4-6 weeks before the last frost, tender crops like beans and corn go in around the frost date, and heat lovers like peppers and melons wait 2-3 weeks after it. Check soil temperature before you sow, and you have a calendar that works anywhere in the US.

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How this vegetable planting calendar works

Calendar dates like “plant tomatoes May 10” only work for one town. Frost-relative timing works everywhere. Once you know your average last spring frost date, every entry in the table below becomes a real date on your calendar: just count the weeks forward or back.

Your USDA hardiness zone is a helpful shortcut, but it is not the same thing. The 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature. Frost dates come from NOAA climate normals for weather stations near you. Two gardens in zone 6 can have last frost dates two or three weeks apart, so look up your own dates on our frost dates by zone page or through your local extension office, because microclimates vary.

Every crop on the list falls into one of four groups, a system used by Colorado State and Utah State Extension:

• Hardy (cool season): survive frost and light freezes. Plant 2-6 weeks before the last frost.
• Semi-hardy (cool season): tolerate light frost. Plant 0-3 weeks before the last frost.
• Tender (warm season): killed by frost. Plant around the last frost date.
• Very tender (warm season): need warm soil and warm nights. Plant 2 or more weeks after the last frost.

When to plant vegetables: the master table

Use this table as your vegetable planting guide for about 30 common crops. “Before” and “after” refer to your average last spring frost. The fall column counts back from your average first fall frost and assumes you live where summers are not brutally hot; in zones 8-10, fall planting starts once the heat breaks.

Germination ranges come from Oregon State University Extension data; for brassicas without their own entry, the cabbage and cauliflower figures are used. The potato and sweet potato figures are planting temperatures rather than germination temperatures, since you plant tubers and slips, not seeds.

The soil-temperature rule: why the calendar is only half the answer

Frost dates tell you when plants will survive above ground. Soil temperature tells you whether seeds will sprout below it. A cold, wet spring can leave soil too chilly for beans even a week after your frost date, and seeds sitting in cold soil are prone to rot.

Oregon State’s germination data shows the effect clearly:

• Carrots take about 51 days to emerge at 41°F, but about 6 days at 77-86°F.
• Tomato seeds take about 43 days at 50°F, versus about 6 days at 77-86°F.
• Sweet corn takes about 22 days at 50°F, but only 3 days at 95°F.
• Lettuce can sprout at very low temperatures, while beans, cucumbers, peppers and squash all list 60°F as the minimum.

Colorado State Extension recommends measuring soil temperature at 8 a.m., 4 inches deep (6 inches for beans), and planting once the reading reaches the crop’s minimum. Morning is the coldest point of the day, so a morning reading is a conservative one. Take readings for several days in a row rather than trusting one warm afternoon.

How to use both rules together

1. Find the crop’s window in the table above using your last frost date.
2. When the window opens, check the soil with a probe thermometer at 4 inches in the morning.
3. If the soil is at or above the minimum, plant. If not, wait a few days and check again.
4. For transplants of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, also check the forecast: these crops stall when nights drop below about 50°F, so a warm week matters more than the date.

Worked example: one calendar, three frost dates

Here is how the same rules translate into real dates for three typical locations. An April 1 last frost is common in zones 7-8, April 20 is typical of zone 6, and May 15 fits much of zones 4-5. Indoor seed-starting dates assume peppers start 8-10 weeks and tomatoes 6-8 weeks before they go outside.

The first fall frost dates in this example are typical pairings, not rules. Look up both of your own dates, because a short or long season changes your fall column a lot. For more on indoor timing, see when to start seeds indoors.

How fall planting dates are calculated

Fall crops are timed backward from the first fall frost. Virginia Cooperative Extension suggests adding up the crop’s days to maturity, its usual harvest period, and a “fall factor” of about two weeks, since growth slows as days shorten and nights cool. For frost-tender crops such as beans, cucumbers, squash and tomatoes, add another two weeks so they mature before frost.

Example: a 60-day bush bean, plus about 2 weeks of harvest, plus the 2-week fall factor, plus the 2-week frost-tender factor, comes to roughly 102 days. Count back about 14 weeks from your first frost, then trim the harvest-period allowance if you only want one big picking. That math is why the table lists 10-12 weeks for beans.

Cool-season crops are more forgiving. Kale, collards, cabbage, turnips, spinach and carrots tolerate frost, and many taste sweeter after a light one. Our fall vegetable garden guide covers the full list.

Cool-season vs. warm-season vegetables

Every crop in the table is either cool season or warm season, and that one label explains most of its timing.

Cool-season vegetables grow best in the cool weather of spring and fall and tolerate frost. They include leafy crops (lettuce, spinach, kale, collards, chard), the cabbage family (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, turnips, radishes), root crops (carrots, beets, parsnips), onions, garlic, peas and potatoes. Many of them bolt, turn bitter or stop producing once summer heat arrives, which is why they get two windows: early spring and fall.

Warm-season vegetables need warm soil and warm nights, and frost kills them. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, corn, cucumbers, squash, melons, okra and sweet potatoes belong here. They have one long window, from shortly after the last spring frost until the first fall frost, so most of the planning for them happens indoors in late winter.

The South is different: zones 8-10

In the Deep South, Gulf Coast, Southern California and Florida, summer heat limits gardens as much as frost does. Lettuce bolts, tomatoes stop setting fruit in high heat, and peas struggle. That flips the calendar: fall, winter and early spring are prime time for cool-season crops, while summer belongs to heat-tolerant crops like okra, sweet potatoes and Southern peas.

The frost-relative rules still apply in spring, but in zones 9-10 the frost date can be in January or February, or frost may be rare. UF/IFAS Extension, for example, lists tomato planting from August through February in South Florida and late March through April in North Florida. Use your state extension service’s planting chart, which is written for exactly these conditions.

Vegetable planting calendar by zone

For a month-by-month version of this calendar, pick your zone below. Frost date ranges are typical for each zone, and the dates in your own town may fall outside them. Not sure of your zone? Start with our USDA hardiness zones guide.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using your zone as a frost date. Zones describe winter lows. Always plan from your local frost dates.
• Planting warm-season seeds in cold soil. Beans, cucumbers and squash planted into 50°F soil often rot. Check the soil thermometer first.
• Setting out tomatoes on the frost date “to get a head start.” Cold nights stall growth, and plants set out a week or two later often catch up.
• Waiting too long on cool-season crops. Peas, spinach and lettuce sown late run into heat and bolt or stop producing. Early is the point.
• Forgetting the fall garden. Fall crops are planted in mid-summer, when most people are busy harvesting. Put those dates on the calendar now.
• Planting everything at once. Sow lettuce, radishes and bush beans in small batches every 1-3 weeks for a steady harvest instead of one glut.

FAQ

Keep reading

• What to Plant in October: A Zone-by-Zone Vegetable Guide

Sources

• Vegetable Planting Guide – Colorado State University Extension
• Soil temperature conditions for vegetable seed germination – Oregon State University Extension
• Suggested Vegetable Planting Dates for Utah – Utah State University Extension
• Fall Vegetable Gardening – Virginia Cooperative Extension
• Growing Okra in a Home Garden – University of Maryland Extension
• Growing Sweet Potatoes in a Home Garden – University of Maryland Extension
• Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide – UF/IFAS Extension
• USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map – USDA Agricultural Research Service