When To Plant Vegetables
By Chip Phelan, Fri Dec 9th
If you’re planting a vegetable garden you’ll want to pay closeattention to frost and freeze dates to determine when to plant.This article gives an overview of how to determine when to plantand offers links to additional online resources for determiningyour frost and freeze dates.
Planting times for vegetables and other annual plants vary fromspecies to species. In much of the United States the primeconsideration is the date of the last spring frost/freeze. Manyvegetables can be planted up to four weeks before the lastfrost, while others need to wait until a couple of weeks afterthe frost.
Another consideration is the date of the first fallfrost/freeze. In northern latitudes, where summers can be short,the length of time some vegetable species take to reach maturity(most notably tomatoes and peppers) make it necessary to plantvegetable seeds indoors and then transplant the seedlingsoutside at the appropriate time.
Other vegetables and fruits, such as winter squashes and somemelon varieties, seem to do better when planted as seedsdirectly where they are going to stay. With maturation times upto twelve weeks, it may be critical to get vegetable seedsplanted as early as it is safe to do. If you have a shortgrowing season, and wish to grow these crops, choose vegetablevarieties that will reach maturity within a safe time period foryour area.
My personal observation has been that vegetable seed cropsplanted at their earliest safe date are less likely to fallvictim to insects than later plantings. If you have a smallvegetable garden it’s not too difficult to reseed if a surpriselate frost damages a particular crop.
Many vegetable plants that are planted in the spring can beplanted again towards the end of the season. Again it isimportant to know what date you can expect the first frost.
By understanding the times and length of frost free weather inyour area you can have a better chance for success in yourvegetable garden.
The National Climatic Data Center has a
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