When to Plant Vegetables in Medford, OR

Your vegetable planning guide for Medford, OR

On average, your frost-free growing season starts May 12 and ends Oct 3, totalling 144 days. You will find both Spring and Fall planting guides on this page.

Print this pagePrinter Friendly Version

For the Spring:
Your Spring Planting Strategy
Cole crops like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage can be direct seeded into your garden around March 31, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around March 3 and then transplant them into the garden around April 22. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around March 13. 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 3. Then, around May 8 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 12, 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 22, 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 28 - Apr 12 n/a
Beans n/a n/a May 12 - Jun 9
Beets n/a n/a Mar 17 - Mar 31
Broccoli Mar 3 - Mar 17 Apr 14 - Apr 28 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Mar 3 - Mar 17 Apr 14 - Apr 28 n/a
Cabbage Mar 3 - Mar 17 Apr 14 - Apr 28 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Apr 28 - May 12
Carrots n/a n/a Mar 31 - Apr 28
Cauliflower Mar 3 - Mar 17 Apr 14 - Apr 28 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Mar 31 - Apr 14
Collards Mar 3 - Mar 17 Apr 14 - Apr 28 n/a
Corn n/a n/a May 12 - May 26
Cucumbers n/a n/a May 12 - May 26
Eggplants Mar 3 - Mar 17 May 12 - May 26 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 12 - May 26
Kale Mar 3 - Mar 17 Apr 14 - Apr 28 n/a
Kohlrabi Mar 3 - Mar 17 Apr 14 - Apr 28 n/a
Lettuce Mar 3 - Mar 17 Mar 31 - Apr 28 Mar 31 - Apr 28
Mustard Mar 3 - Mar 17 Apr 14 - Apr 28 n/a
Okra n/a n/a May 12 - May 26
Onions Feb 25 - Mar 3 Mar 13 - Apr 12 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Mar 13 - Apr 12
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 12 - Jun 9
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Mar 13 - Apr 12
Peppers Mar 3 - Mar 17 May 12 - May 26 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Mar 13 - Apr 12
Radishes n/a n/a Mar 28 - May 26
Spinach Mar 3 - Mar 17 Apr 14 - Apr 28 Mar 28 - Apr 28
Sweet Potatoes n/a May 12 - Jun 2 n/a
Tomatoes Mar 3 - Mar 17 May 12 - May 26 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a May 12 - May 26

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 3. 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 25. 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 19, 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 25, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around June 5 and then transplant them into the garden around July 15. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around July 20.

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 20.

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 20 - Jul 20
Beets n/a n/a Jul 20 - Sep 3
Broccoli May 9 - Jun 23 Jun 20 - Aug 4 n/a
Brussel Sprouts May 9 - Jun 23 Jun 20 - Aug 4 n/a
Cabbage May 9 - Jun 23 Jun 20 - Aug 4 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jun 5 - Jun 20
Carrots n/a n/a Jul 5 - Sep 3
Cauliflower May 9 - Jun 23 Jun 20 - Aug 4 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jun 20 - Sep 3
Collards Jun 5 - Jul 20 Jul 5 - Aug 19 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jun 20 - Jul 5
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jun 20 - Jul 5
Eggplants Apr 24 - May 9 Jun 5 - Jun 20 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Jul 20 - Sep 3
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 21 - Jun 20
Kale May 9 - Jun 23 Jun 20 - Aug 4 n/a
Kohlrabi May 9 - Jun 23 Jun 20 - Aug 4 n/a
Lettuce Jul 5 - Aug 4 Aug 4 - Sep 3 Aug 4 - Sep 3
Mustard n/a n/a Aug 4 - Sep 3
Okra n/a n/a May 21 - Jun 20
Onions n/a n/a Sep 3 - Sep 13
Parsley May 21 - Jul 5 Jul 5 - Aug 19 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jul 5 - Aug 4
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 21 - Jun 20
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jul 5 - Aug 4
Peppers Apr 29 - May 14 Jun 10 - Jun 25 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jul 5 - Aug 4
Radishes n/a n/a Aug 4 - Sep 3
Spinach Jun 20 - Aug 4 Jul 20 - Sep 3 Jul 20 - Sep 3
Tomatoes Apr 29 - May 14 Jun 10 - Jun 25 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Aug 19 - Sep 18
Watermelon n/a n/a May 21 - Jun 20

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?

Explore More:

Member Login:

( No account? Join now! )

Today's site banner is by mcash70 and is called "Blueberries"

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.