When to Plant Vegetables in Syracuse, NE

Your vegetable planning guide for Syracuse, NE

On average, your frost-free growing season starts May 5 and ends Sep 24, totalling 142 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 24, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around February 25 and then transplant them into the garden around April 15. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around March 6. 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 25. Then, around May 1 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 5, 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 15, 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 21 - Apr 5 n/a
Beans n/a n/a May 5 - Jun 2
Beets n/a n/a Mar 10 - Mar 24
Broccoli Feb 25 - Mar 10 Apr 7 - Apr 21 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Feb 25 - Mar 10 Apr 7 - Apr 21 n/a
Cabbage Feb 25 - Mar 10 Apr 7 - Apr 21 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Apr 21 - May 5
Carrots n/a n/a Mar 24 - Apr 21
Cauliflower Feb 25 - Mar 10 Apr 7 - Apr 21 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Mar 24 - Apr 7
Collards Feb 25 - Mar 10 Apr 7 - Apr 21 n/a
Corn n/a n/a May 5 - May 19
Cucumbers n/a n/a May 5 - May 19
Eggplants Feb 25 - Mar 10 May 5 - May 19 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 5 - May 19
Kale Feb 25 - Mar 10 Apr 7 - Apr 21 n/a
Kohlrabi Feb 25 - Mar 10 Apr 7 - Apr 21 n/a
Lettuce Feb 25 - Mar 10 Mar 24 - Apr 21 Mar 24 - Apr 21
Mustard Feb 25 - Mar 10 Apr 7 - Apr 21 n/a
Okra n/a n/a May 5 - May 19
Onions Feb 18 - Feb 25 Mar 6 - Apr 5 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Mar 6 - Apr 5
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 5 - Jun 2
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Mar 6 - Apr 5
Peppers Feb 25 - Mar 10 May 5 - May 19 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Mar 6 - Apr 5
Radishes n/a n/a Mar 21 - May 19
Spinach Feb 25 - Mar 10 Apr 7 - Apr 21 Mar 21 - Apr 21
Sweet Potatoes n/a May 5 - May 26 n/a
Tomatoes Feb 25 - Mar 10 May 5 - May 19 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a May 5 - May 19

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 September 24. 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 16. 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 10, 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 16, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around May 27 and then transplant them into the garden around July 6. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around July 11.

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 11.

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 11 - Jul 11
Beets n/a n/a Jul 11 - Aug 25
Broccoli Apr 30 - Jun 14 Jun 11 - Jul 26 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Apr 30 - Jun 14 Jun 11 - Jul 26 n/a
Cabbage Apr 30 - Jun 14 Jun 11 - Jul 26 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a May 27 - Jun 11
Carrots n/a n/a Jun 26 - Aug 25
Cauliflower Apr 30 - Jun 14 Jun 11 - Jul 26 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jun 11 - Aug 25
Collards May 27 - Jul 11 Jun 26 - Aug 10 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jun 11 - Jun 26
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jun 11 - Jun 26
Eggplants Apr 15 - Apr 30 May 27 - Jun 11 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Jul 11 - Aug 25
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 12 - Jun 11
Kale Apr 30 - Jun 14 Jun 11 - Jul 26 n/a
Kohlrabi Apr 30 - Jun 14 Jun 11 - Jul 26 n/a
Lettuce Jun 26 - Jul 26 Jul 26 - Aug 25 Jul 26 - Aug 25
Mustard n/a n/a Jul 26 - Aug 25
Okra n/a n/a May 12 - Jun 11
Onions n/a n/a Aug 25 - Sep 4
Parsley May 12 - Jun 26 Jun 26 - Aug 10 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jun 26 - Jul 26
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 12 - Jun 11
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jun 26 - Jul 26
Peppers Apr 20 - May 5 Jun 1 - Jun 16 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jun 26 - Jul 26
Radishes n/a n/a Jul 26 - Aug 25
Spinach Jun 11 - Jul 26 Jul 11 - Aug 25 Jul 11 - Aug 25
Tomatoes Apr 20 - May 5 Jun 1 - Jun 16 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Aug 10 - Sep 9
Watermelon n/a n/a May 12 - Jun 11

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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