When to Plant Vegetables in Louisa, Virginia

Your vegetable planning guide for Louisa, Virginia

On average, your frost-free growing season starts May 3 and ends Oct 4, totalling 154 days. You will find both Spring and Fall planting guides on this page.

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For the Spring:
Your Spring Planting Strategy
Cole crops like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage can be direct seeded into your garden around March 22, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around February 23 and then transplant them into the garden around April 13. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around March 4. Sow the seeds of peas (sugar snap and english) at the same time. If the ground is still frozen, then plant these as soon as the ground thaws.

Do you want to grow tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants? Start these indoors around February 23. Then, around April 29 you should start watching the weather forecast and, as soon as no frost is forecast, go ahead and transplant those into the ground.

Now, for all the summer vegetables like beans, cowpeas, corn, squashes, pumpkins, cucumbers, watermelons, gourds and sunflowers, you should plant those seeds directly into the ground around May 3, or if your soil is still very cold, once the soil is near 60° F in temperature. Having said that, we note that your location has a shorter than average growing season. Many summer vegetables need more days to mature than your area will provide. For that reason, we recommend you get a head-start by starting these summer vegetables indoors around April 13, and transplant those seedlings out after the danger of frost is past.

Okay, now here are the cold, hard numbers, along with specific plants:

Crop Sow seeds indoors Transplant seedlings into the garden Direct sow seeds
Asparagus n/a Mar 19 - Apr 3 n/a
Beans n/a n/a May 3 - May 31
Beets n/a n/a Mar 8 - Mar 22
Broccoli Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Cabbage Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Apr 19 - May 3
Carrots n/a n/a Mar 22 - Apr 19
Cauliflower Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Mar 22 - Apr 5
Collards Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Corn n/a n/a May 3 - May 17
Cucumbers n/a n/a May 3 - May 17
Eggplants Feb 23 - Mar 8 May 3 - May 17 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 3 - May 17
Kale Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Kohlrabi Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Lettuce Feb 23 - Mar 8 Mar 22 - Apr 19 Mar 22 - Apr 19
Mustard Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Okra n/a n/a May 3 - May 17
Onions Feb 16 - Feb 23 Mar 4 - Apr 3 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Mar 4 - Apr 3
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 3 - May 31
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Mar 4 - Apr 3
Peppers Feb 23 - Mar 8 May 3 - May 17 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Mar 4 - Apr 3
Radishes n/a n/a Mar 19 - May 17
Spinach Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 Mar 19 - Apr 19
Sweet Potatoes n/a May 3 - May 24 n/a
Tomatoes Feb 23 - Mar 8 May 3 - May 17 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a May 3 - May 17

For the Fall:
Your Fall Planting Strategy
Gardening in the fall can be much more challenging than spring planting, because you are in a race to get your crops mature and harvested before the winter frosts begin, around October 4. This means you need to consider how much time each variety needs between planting and picking. Those numbers vary widely between different varieties of the same kinds of plants! Usually the "Days to Harvest" are present on the seed packet.

Most tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, for example, require around 100 days to harvest, therefore you'd want to transplant those into the ground around June 26. Anyway, it's important to remember that the numbers in this fall planting guide are only a starting point for you! Good luck and good gardening to you.

Fall is the time to plant garlic. Around August 20, take your cloves apart and plant the toes about 3 to 4 inches deep. This may not be accurate! Garlic dates vary wildly around the country. The way to be sure is to use a soil thermometer. When the soil temperature is 60° at a depth of 4 inches, then plant your garlic.

Cole crops like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage can be direct seeded into your garden around July 26, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around June 6 and then transplant them into the garden around July 16. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around July 21.

Now, for all the usual hot weather veggies like beans, cowpeas, corn, squashes, pumpkins, cucumbers, watermelons, gourds and sunflowers, you should plant those seeds directly into the ground around June 21.

Okay, now here are the cold, hard numbers, along with specific plants:

Crop Sow seeds indoors Transplant seedlings into the garden Direct sow seeds
Beans n/a n/a Jun 21 - Jul 21
Beets n/a n/a Jul 21 - Sep 4
Broccoli May 10 - Jun 24 Jun 21 - Aug 5 n/a
Brussel Sprouts May 10 - Jun 24 Jun 21 - Aug 5 n/a
Cabbage May 10 - Jun 24 Jun 21 - Aug 5 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jun 6 - Jun 21
Carrots n/a n/a Jul 6 - Sep 4
Cauliflower May 10 - Jun 24 Jun 21 - Aug 5 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jun 21 - Sep 4
Collards Jun 6 - Jul 21 Jul 6 - Aug 20 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jun 21 - Jul 6
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jun 21 - Jul 6
Eggplants Apr 25 - May 10 Jun 6 - Jun 21 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Jul 21 - Sep 4
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 22 - Jun 21
Kale May 10 - Jun 24 Jun 21 - Aug 5 n/a
Kohlrabi May 10 - Jun 24 Jun 21 - Aug 5 n/a
Lettuce Jul 6 - Aug 5 Aug 5 - Sep 4 Aug 5 - Sep 4
Mustard n/a n/a Aug 5 - Sep 4
Okra n/a n/a May 22 - Jun 21
Onions n/a n/a Sep 4 - Sep 14
Parsley May 22 - Jul 6 Jul 6 - Aug 20 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jul 6 - Aug 5
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 22 - Jun 21
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jul 6 - Aug 5
Peppers Apr 30 - May 15 Jun 11 - Jun 26 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jul 6 - Aug 5
Radishes n/a n/a Aug 5 - Sep 4
Spinach Jun 21 - Aug 5 Jul 21 - Sep 4 Jul 21 - Sep 4
Tomatoes Apr 30 - May 15 Jun 11 - Jun 26 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Aug 20 - Sep 19
Watermelon n/a n/a May 22 - Jun 21

How accurate is all this? For nearly all locations, we are confident in the dates. There are, however, some difficult areas of the world that don't match up perfectly with the dates we have given. For that reason, we recommend you use this guide as a very good starting place, but don't interpret the dates as absolutely perfect for every location.

Did you find this useful? Garden.org has a vast array of useful features. May we recommend that you take a look at our excellent food gardening guide?

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