When to Plant Vegetables in Grants Pass, OR

Your vegetable planning guide for Grants Pass, OR

On average, your frost-free growing season starts May 10 and ends Sep 25, totalling 138 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 29, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around March 1 and then transplant them into the garden around April 20. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around March 11. 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 March 1. Then, around May 6 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 10, 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 20, 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 26 - Apr 10 n/a
Beans n/a n/a May 10 - Jun 7
Beets n/a n/a Mar 15 - Mar 29
Broccoli Mar 1 - Mar 15 Apr 12 - Apr 26 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Mar 1 - Mar 15 Apr 12 - Apr 26 n/a
Cabbage Mar 1 - Mar 15 Apr 12 - Apr 26 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Apr 26 - May 10
Carrots n/a n/a Mar 29 - Apr 26
Cauliflower Mar 1 - Mar 15 Apr 12 - Apr 26 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Mar 29 - Apr 12
Collards Mar 1 - Mar 15 Apr 12 - Apr 26 n/a
Corn n/a n/a May 10 - May 24
Cucumbers n/a n/a May 10 - May 24
Eggplants Mar 1 - Mar 15 May 10 - May 24 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 10 - May 24
Kale Mar 1 - Mar 15 Apr 12 - Apr 26 n/a
Kohlrabi Mar 1 - Mar 15 Apr 12 - Apr 26 n/a
Lettuce Mar 1 - Mar 15 Mar 29 - Apr 26 Mar 29 - Apr 26
Mustard Mar 1 - Mar 15 Apr 12 - Apr 26 n/a
Okra n/a n/a May 10 - May 24
Onions Feb 23 - Mar 1 Mar 11 - Apr 10 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Mar 11 - Apr 10
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 10 - Jun 7
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Mar 11 - Apr 10
Peppers Mar 1 - Mar 15 May 10 - May 24 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Mar 11 - Apr 10
Radishes n/a n/a Mar 26 - May 24
Spinach Mar 1 - Mar 15 Apr 12 - Apr 26 Mar 26 - Apr 26
Sweet Potatoes n/a May 10 - May 31 n/a
Tomatoes Mar 1 - Mar 15 May 10 - May 24 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a May 10 - May 24

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 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 June 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 August 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 July 17, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around May 28 and then transplant them into the garden around July 7. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around July 12.

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