When to Plant Vegetables in Dallas, TX

Your vegetable planning guide for Dallas, TX

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Mar 3 and ends Nov 25, totalling 267 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 January 21, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around December 24 and then transplant them into the garden around February 12. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around January 3. 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 December 24. Then, around February 28 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 March 3, or if your soil is still very cold, once the soil is near 60° F in temperature.

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 Jan 18 - Feb 2 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Mar 3 - Mar 31
Beets n/a n/a Jan 7 - Jan 21
Broccoli Dec 24 - Jan 7 Feb 4 - Feb 18 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Dec 24 - Jan 7 Feb 4 - Feb 18 n/a
Cabbage Dec 24 - Jan 7 Feb 4 - Feb 18 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Feb 18 - Mar 3
Carrots n/a n/a Jan 21 - Feb 18
Cauliflower Dec 24 - Jan 7 Feb 4 - Feb 18 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jan 21 - Feb 4
Collards Dec 24 - Jan 7 Feb 4 - Feb 18 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Mar 3 - Mar 17
Cucumbers n/a n/a Mar 3 - Mar 17
Eggplants Dec 24 - Jan 7 Mar 3 - Mar 17 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Mar 3 - Mar 17
Kale Dec 24 - Jan 7 Feb 4 - Feb 18 n/a
Kohlrabi Dec 24 - Jan 7 Feb 4 - Feb 18 n/a
Lettuce Dec 24 - Jan 7 Jan 21 - Feb 18 Jan 21 - Feb 18
Mustard Dec 24 - Jan 7 Feb 4 - Feb 18 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Mar 3 - Mar 17
Onions Dec 17 - Dec 24 Jan 3 - Feb 2 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jan 3 - Feb 2
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Mar 3 - Mar 31
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jan 3 - Feb 2
Peppers Dec 24 - Jan 7 Mar 3 - Mar 17 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jan 3 - Feb 2
Radishes n/a n/a Jan 18 - Mar 17
Spinach Dec 24 - Jan 7 Feb 4 - Feb 18 Jan 18 - Feb 18
Sweet Potatoes n/a Mar 3 - Mar 24 n/a
Tomatoes Dec 24 - Jan 7 Mar 3 - Mar 17 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Mar 3 - Mar 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 November 25. 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 August 17. 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 October 11, 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 September 16, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around July 28 and then transplant them into the garden around September 6. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around September 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 August 12.

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 Aug 12 - Sep 11
Beets n/a n/a Sep 11 - Oct 26
Broccoli Jul 1 - Aug 15 Aug 12 - Sep 26 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jul 1 - Aug 15 Aug 12 - Sep 26 n/a
Cabbage Jul 1 - Aug 15 Aug 12 - Sep 26 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jul 28 - Aug 12
Carrots n/a n/a Aug 27 - Oct 26
Cauliflower Jul 1 - Aug 15 Aug 12 - Sep 26 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Aug 12 - Oct 26
Collards Jul 28 - Sep 11 Aug 27 - Oct 11 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Aug 12 - Aug 27
Cucumbers n/a n/a Aug 12 - Aug 27
Eggplants Jun 16 - Jul 1 Jul 28 - Aug 12 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Sep 11 - Oct 26
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jul 13 - Aug 12
Kale Jul 1 - Aug 15 Aug 12 - Sep 26 n/a
Kohlrabi Jul 1 - Aug 15 Aug 12 - Sep 26 n/a
Lettuce Aug 27 - Sep 26 Sep 26 - Oct 26 Sep 26 - Oct 26
Mustard n/a n/a Sep 26 - Oct 26
Okra n/a n/a Jul 13 - Aug 12
Onions n/a n/a Oct 26 - Nov 5
Parsley Jul 13 - Aug 27 Aug 27 - Oct 11 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Aug 27 - Sep 26
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jul 13 - Aug 12
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Aug 27 - Sep 26
Peppers Jun 21 - Jul 6 Aug 2 - Aug 17 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Aug 27 - Sep 26
Radishes n/a n/a Sep 26 - Oct 26
Spinach Aug 12 - Sep 26 Sep 11 - Oct 26 Sep 11 - Oct 26
Tomatoes Jun 21 - Jul 6 Aug 2 - Aug 17 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Oct 11 - Nov 10
Watermelon n/a n/a Jul 13 - Aug 12

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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