When to Plant Vegetables in Marshfield, MO

Your vegetable planning guide for Marshfield, MO

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Apr 22 and ends Oct 8, totalling 169 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 11, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around February 12 and then transplant them into the garden around April 2. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around February 22. 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 February 12. Then, around April 18 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 April 22, 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 Mar 8 - Mar 23 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Apr 22 - May 20
Beets n/a n/a Feb 26 - Mar 11
Broccoli Feb 12 - Feb 26 Mar 25 - Apr 8 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Feb 12 - Feb 26 Mar 25 - Apr 8 n/a
Cabbage Feb 12 - Feb 26 Mar 25 - Apr 8 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Apr 8 - Apr 22
Carrots n/a n/a Mar 11 - Apr 8
Cauliflower Feb 12 - Feb 26 Mar 25 - Apr 8 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Mar 11 - Mar 25
Collards Feb 12 - Feb 26 Mar 25 - Apr 8 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Apr 22 - May 6
Cucumbers n/a n/a Apr 22 - May 6
Eggplants Feb 12 - Feb 26 Apr 22 - May 6 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Apr 22 - May 6
Kale Feb 12 - Feb 26 Mar 25 - Apr 8 n/a
Kohlrabi Feb 12 - Feb 26 Mar 25 - Apr 8 n/a
Lettuce Feb 12 - Feb 26 Mar 11 - Apr 8 Mar 11 - Apr 8
Mustard Feb 12 - Feb 26 Mar 25 - Apr 8 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Apr 22 - May 6
Onions Feb 5 - Feb 12 Feb 22 - Mar 23 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Feb 22 - Mar 23
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Apr 22 - May 20
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Feb 22 - Mar 23
Peppers Feb 12 - Feb 26 Apr 22 - May 6 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Feb 22 - Mar 23
Radishes n/a n/a Mar 8 - May 6
Spinach Feb 12 - Feb 26 Mar 25 - Apr 8 Mar 8 - Apr 8
Sweet Potatoes n/a Apr 22 - May 13 n/a
Tomatoes Feb 12 - Feb 26 Apr 22 - May 6 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Apr 22 - May 6

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 October 8. 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 30. 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 24, 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 30, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around June 10 and then transplant them into the garden around July 20. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around July 25.

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 25.

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 25 - Jul 25
Beets n/a n/a Jul 25 - Sep 8
Broccoli May 14 - Jun 28 Jun 25 - Aug 9 n/a
Brussel Sprouts May 14 - Jun 28 Jun 25 - Aug 9 n/a
Cabbage May 14 - Jun 28 Jun 25 - Aug 9 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jun 10 - Jun 25
Carrots n/a n/a Jul 10 - Sep 8
Cauliflower May 14 - Jun 28 Jun 25 - Aug 9 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jun 25 - Sep 8
Collards Jun 10 - Jul 25 Jul 10 - Aug 24 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jun 25 - Jul 10
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jun 25 - Jul 10
Eggplants Apr 29 - May 14 Jun 10 - Jun 25 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Jul 25 - Sep 8
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 26 - Jun 25
Kale May 14 - Jun 28 Jun 25 - Aug 9 n/a
Kohlrabi May 14 - Jun 28 Jun 25 - Aug 9 n/a
Lettuce Jul 10 - Aug 9 Aug 9 - Sep 8 Aug 9 - Sep 8
Mustard n/a n/a Aug 9 - Sep 8
Okra n/a n/a May 26 - Jun 25
Onions n/a n/a Sep 8 - Sep 18
Parsley May 26 - Jul 10 Jul 10 - Aug 24 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jul 10 - Aug 9
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 26 - Jun 25
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jul 10 - Aug 9
Peppers May 4 - May 19 Jun 15 - Jun 30 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jul 10 - Aug 9
Radishes n/a n/a Aug 9 - Sep 8
Spinach Jun 25 - Aug 9 Jul 25 - Sep 8 Jul 25 - Sep 8
Tomatoes May 4 - May 19 Jun 15 - Jun 30 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Aug 24 - Sep 23
Watermelon n/a n/a May 26 - Jun 25

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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