Updated May 2025
found a vegetable garden is n’t just a one - 24-hour interval affair . It ’s often done over several hebdomad , depending on the weather and other factors . There are a variety of slipway to determine when to plant what — here are just a few .
At their simplest , vegetables be given to fall into two categories for plant — cool season and ardent time of year . coolheaded season crop are those that will sprout before the threat of frost has passed . They let in greens , such as moolah , spinach , chard and kale , as well as onion and peas .
By mid-June, this St. Paul gardener has planted out warm season crops, such as peppers.
Many guides urge that these seeds be planted “ as soon as you’re able to work the soil , ” which means the frost is out and it is not sopping wet or murky . Warm season crops include melons , tomatoes , peppers , squash and corn and these should be planted “ when all risk of frost is passed . ”
If you are pressed for time , count engraft most of your cool season crops on a quick daylight in former April , then all the warm time of year crops on another 24-hour interval in former May . This simple melodic theme should crop for most crop .
Many garden books ( and all seed packets ) urge engraft base onfrost dates . The mail boat will tell you how far before or after your last frost date to plant the crop . industrial plant potatoes 5 weeks before the last frost date , or tomato starts two weeks after the last Robert Lee Frost , they ’ll say .
One thing to keep in head is that in frigid mood like ours , springiness is more flat than in other place . We go from high in the 30s to highs in the 90s quickly and erratically . In her bookMonth - by - Month Gardening in Minnesota , Melinda Myers recommends planting potatoes after April 15 ( about three week before the last frost , depending on where you hold out ) and congeal tomato plants out on May 20 ( 10 daylight to two weeks after last icing ) .
If you need to be even more scientific , you may endue in a ground thermometer and go by the temperature of the grunge , since that is often a central divisor in germination . Crops such as kale , spinach , argula and radishes will germinate as long as the soil temperature is systematically above 40 degrees Fahrenheit .
Once it have above 50 , you could constitute onions , Swiss chard and turnip . land needs to be above 60 degrees to plant beans , beets , scratch and carrot , and it has to be above 70 to burgeon forth seeded player for cucumbers , squash , melon or clavus . Thiswebsitehas a helpful chart on when to constitute what based on grime temperature .
As our weather has changed , more people are using natural sign ( orphenology ) for planting their gardens . illustration include :
These are based on hundred of years of observation and are fairly reliable , if you enjoy note nature . maintain records of your own garden will help you develop your own phenology for when to set what .
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