When to Plant Vegetables in Houston, TX

Your vegetable planning guide for Houston, TX

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Feb 8 and ends Dec 20, totalling 316 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 December 28, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around November 30 and then transplant them into the garden around January 19. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around December 10. 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 November 30. Then, around February 4 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 February 8, 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 Dec 25 - Jan 9 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Feb 8 - Mar 7
Beets n/a n/a Dec 14 - Dec 28
Broccoli Nov 30 - Dec 14 Jan 11 - Jan 25 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Nov 30 - Dec 14 Jan 11 - Jan 25 n/a
Cabbage Nov 30 - Dec 14 Jan 11 - Jan 25 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jan 25 - Feb 8
Carrots n/a n/a Dec 28 - Jan 25
Cauliflower Nov 30 - Dec 14 Jan 11 - Jan 25 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Dec 28 - Jan 11
Collards Nov 30 - Dec 14 Jan 11 - Jan 25 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Feb 8 - Feb 22
Cucumbers n/a n/a Feb 8 - Feb 22
Eggplants Nov 30 - Dec 14 Feb 8 - Feb 22 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Feb 8 - Feb 22
Kale Nov 30 - Dec 14 Jan 11 - Jan 25 n/a
Kohlrabi Nov 30 - Dec 14 Jan 11 - Jan 25 n/a
Lettuce Nov 30 - Dec 14 Dec 28 - Jan 25 Dec 28 - Jan 25
Mustard Nov 30 - Dec 14 Jan 11 - Jan 25 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Feb 8 - Feb 22
Onions Nov 23 - Nov 30 Dec 10 - Jan 9 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Dec 10 - Jan 9
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Feb 8 - Mar 7
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Dec 10 - Jan 9
Peppers Nov 30 - Dec 14 Feb 8 - Feb 22 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Dec 10 - Jan 9
Radishes n/a n/a Dec 25 - Feb 22
Spinach Nov 30 - Dec 14 Jan 11 - Jan 25 Dec 25 - Jan 25
Sweet Potatoes n/a Feb 8 - Feb 29 n/a
Tomatoes Nov 30 - Dec 14 Feb 8 - Feb 22 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Feb 8 - Feb 22

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 December 20. 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 September 11. 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 November 5, 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 October 11, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around August 22 and then transplant them into the garden around October 1. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around October 6.

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 September 6.

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 Sep 6 - Oct 6
Beets n/a n/a Oct 6 - Nov 20
Broccoli Jul 26 - Sep 9 Sep 6 - Oct 21 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jul 26 - Sep 9 Sep 6 - Oct 21 n/a
Cabbage Jul 26 - Sep 9 Sep 6 - Oct 21 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Aug 22 - Sep 6
Carrots n/a n/a Sep 21 - Nov 20
Cauliflower Jul 26 - Sep 9 Sep 6 - Oct 21 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Sep 6 - Nov 20
Collards Aug 22 - Oct 6 Sep 21 - Nov 5 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Sep 6 - Sep 21
Cucumbers n/a n/a Sep 6 - Sep 21
Eggplants Jul 11 - Jul 26 Aug 22 - Sep 6 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Oct 6 - Nov 20
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Aug 7 - Sep 6
Kale Jul 26 - Sep 9 Sep 6 - Oct 21 n/a
Kohlrabi Jul 26 - Sep 9 Sep 6 - Oct 21 n/a
Lettuce Sep 21 - Oct 21 Oct 21 - Nov 20 Oct 21 - Nov 20
Mustard n/a n/a Oct 21 - Nov 20
Okra n/a n/a Aug 7 - Sep 6
Onions n/a n/a Nov 20 - Nov 30
Parsley Aug 7 - Sep 21 Sep 21 - Nov 5 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Sep 21 - Oct 21
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Aug 7 - Sep 6
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Sep 21 - Oct 21
Peppers Jul 16 - Jul 31 Aug 27 - Sep 11 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Sep 21 - Oct 21
Radishes n/a n/a Oct 21 - Nov 20
Spinach Sep 6 - Oct 21 Oct 6 - Nov 20 Oct 6 - Nov 20
Tomatoes Jul 16 - Jul 31 Aug 27 - Sep 11 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Nov 5 - Dec 5
Watermelon n/a n/a Aug 7 - Sep 6

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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