When to Plant Vegetables in Livermore, CA

Your vegetable planning guide for Livermore, CA

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Mar 25 and ends Nov 5, totalling 225 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 12, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around January 15 and then transplant them into the garden around March 5. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around January 25. 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 15. Then, around March 21 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 25, 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 9 - Feb 24 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Mar 25 - Apr 22
Beets n/a n/a Jan 29 - Feb 12
Broccoli Jan 15 - Jan 29 Feb 26 - Mar 11 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jan 15 - Jan 29 Feb 26 - Mar 11 n/a
Cabbage Jan 15 - Jan 29 Feb 26 - Mar 11 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Mar 11 - Mar 25
Carrots n/a n/a Feb 12 - Mar 11
Cauliflower Jan 15 - Jan 29 Feb 26 - Mar 11 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Feb 12 - Feb 26
Collards Jan 15 - Jan 29 Feb 26 - Mar 11 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Mar 25 - Apr 8
Cucumbers n/a n/a Mar 25 - Apr 8
Eggplants Jan 15 - Jan 29 Mar 25 - Apr 8 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Mar 25 - Apr 8
Kale Jan 15 - Jan 29 Feb 26 - Mar 11 n/a
Kohlrabi Jan 15 - Jan 29 Feb 26 - Mar 11 n/a
Lettuce Jan 15 - Jan 29 Feb 12 - Mar 11 Feb 12 - Mar 11
Mustard Jan 15 - Jan 29 Feb 26 - Mar 11 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Mar 25 - Apr 8
Onions Jan 8 - Jan 15 Jan 25 - Feb 24 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jan 25 - Feb 24
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Mar 25 - Apr 22
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jan 25 - Feb 24
Peppers Jan 15 - Jan 29 Mar 25 - Apr 8 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jan 25 - Feb 24
Radishes n/a n/a Feb 9 - Apr 8
Spinach Jan 15 - Jan 29 Feb 26 - Mar 11 Feb 9 - Mar 11
Sweet Potatoes n/a Mar 25 - Apr 15 n/a
Tomatoes Jan 15 - Jan 29 Mar 25 - Apr 8 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Mar 25 - Apr 8

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 5. 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 July 28. 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 September 21, 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 August 27, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around July 8 and then transplant them into the garden around August 17. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around August 22.

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 July 23.

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 Jul 23 - Aug 22
Beets n/a n/a Aug 22 - Oct 6
Broccoli Jun 11 - Jul 26 Jul 23 - Sep 6 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jun 11 - Jul 26 Jul 23 - Sep 6 n/a
Cabbage Jun 11 - Jul 26 Jul 23 - Sep 6 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jul 8 - Jul 23
Carrots n/a n/a Aug 7 - Oct 6
Cauliflower Jun 11 - Jul 26 Jul 23 - Sep 6 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jul 23 - Oct 6
Collards Jul 8 - Aug 22 Aug 7 - Sep 21 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jul 23 - Aug 7
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jul 23 - Aug 7
Eggplants May 27 - Jun 11 Jul 8 - Jul 23 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Aug 22 - Oct 6
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jun 23 - Jul 23
Kale Jun 11 - Jul 26 Jul 23 - Sep 6 n/a
Kohlrabi Jun 11 - Jul 26 Jul 23 - Sep 6 n/a
Lettuce Aug 7 - Sep 6 Sep 6 - Oct 6 Sep 6 - Oct 6
Mustard n/a n/a Sep 6 - Oct 6
Okra n/a n/a Jun 23 - Jul 23
Onions n/a n/a Oct 6 - Oct 16
Parsley Jun 23 - Aug 7 Aug 7 - Sep 21 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Aug 7 - Sep 6
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jun 23 - Jul 23
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Aug 7 - Sep 6
Peppers Jun 1 - Jun 16 Jul 13 - Jul 28 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Aug 7 - Sep 6
Radishes n/a n/a Sep 6 - Oct 6
Spinach Jul 23 - Sep 6 Aug 22 - Oct 6 Aug 22 - Oct 6
Tomatoes Jun 1 - Jun 16 Jul 13 - Jul 28 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Sep 21 - Oct 21
Watermelon n/a n/a Jun 23 - Jul 23

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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