When to Plant Vegetables in Denton, TX

Your vegetable planning guide for Denton, TX

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Mar 18 and ends Nov 16, totalling 243 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 February 5, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around January 8 and then transplant them into the garden around February 27. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around January 18. 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 January 8. Then, around March 14 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 18, 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 Feb 2 - Feb 17 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Mar 18 - Apr 15
Beets n/a n/a Jan 22 - Feb 5
Broccoli Jan 8 - Jan 22 Feb 19 - Mar 4 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jan 8 - Jan 22 Feb 19 - Mar 4 n/a
Cabbage Jan 8 - Jan 22 Feb 19 - Mar 4 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Mar 4 - Mar 18
Carrots n/a n/a Feb 5 - Mar 4
Cauliflower Jan 8 - Jan 22 Feb 19 - Mar 4 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Feb 5 - Feb 19
Collards Jan 8 - Jan 22 Feb 19 - Mar 4 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Mar 18 - Apr 1
Cucumbers n/a n/a Mar 18 - Apr 1
Eggplants Jan 8 - Jan 22 Mar 18 - Apr 1 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Mar 18 - Apr 1
Kale Jan 8 - Jan 22 Feb 19 - Mar 4 n/a
Kohlrabi Jan 8 - Jan 22 Feb 19 - Mar 4 n/a
Lettuce Jan 8 - Jan 22 Feb 5 - Mar 4 Feb 5 - Mar 4
Mustard Jan 8 - Jan 22 Feb 19 - Mar 4 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Mar 18 - Apr 1
Onions Jan 1 - Jan 8 Jan 18 - Feb 17 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jan 18 - Feb 17
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Mar 18 - Apr 15
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jan 18 - Feb 17
Peppers Jan 8 - Jan 22 Mar 18 - Apr 1 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jan 18 - Feb 17
Radishes n/a n/a Feb 2 - Apr 1
Spinach Jan 8 - Jan 22 Feb 19 - Mar 4 Feb 2 - Mar 4
Sweet Potatoes n/a Mar 18 - Apr 8 n/a
Tomatoes Jan 8 - Jan 22 Mar 18 - Apr 1 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Mar 18 - Apr 1

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 16. 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 8. 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 2, 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 7, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around July 19 and then transplant them into the garden around August 28. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around September 2.

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 3.

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 3 - Sep 2
Beets n/a n/a Sep 2 - Oct 17
Broccoli Jun 22 - Aug 6 Aug 3 - Sep 17 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jun 22 - Aug 6 Aug 3 - Sep 17 n/a
Cabbage Jun 22 - Aug 6 Aug 3 - Sep 17 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jul 19 - Aug 3
Carrots n/a n/a Aug 18 - Oct 17
Cauliflower Jun 22 - Aug 6 Aug 3 - Sep 17 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Aug 3 - Oct 17
Collards Jul 19 - Sep 2 Aug 18 - Oct 2 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Aug 3 - Aug 18
Cucumbers n/a n/a Aug 3 - Aug 18
Eggplants Jun 7 - Jun 22 Jul 19 - Aug 3 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Sep 2 - Oct 17
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jul 4 - Aug 3
Kale Jun 22 - Aug 6 Aug 3 - Sep 17 n/a
Kohlrabi Jun 22 - Aug 6 Aug 3 - Sep 17 n/a
Lettuce Aug 18 - Sep 17 Sep 17 - Oct 17 Sep 17 - Oct 17
Mustard n/a n/a Sep 17 - Oct 17
Okra n/a n/a Jul 4 - Aug 3
Onions n/a n/a Oct 17 - Oct 27
Parsley Jul 4 - Aug 18 Aug 18 - Oct 2 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Aug 18 - Sep 17
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jul 4 - Aug 3
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Aug 18 - Sep 17
Peppers Jun 12 - Jun 27 Jul 24 - Aug 8 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Aug 18 - Sep 17
Radishes n/a n/a Sep 17 - Oct 17
Spinach Aug 3 - Sep 17 Sep 2 - Oct 17 Sep 2 - Oct 17
Tomatoes Jun 12 - Jun 27 Jul 24 - Aug 8 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Oct 2 - Nov 1
Watermelon n/a n/a Jul 4 - Aug 3

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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