When to Plant Vegetables in Portland, OR

Your vegetable planning guide for Portland, OR

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Apr 3 and ends Nov 15, totalling 226 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 February 21, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around January 24 and then transplant them into the garden around March 14. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around February 3. 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 24. Then, around March 30 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 3, 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 18 - Mar 4 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Apr 3 - May 1
Beets n/a n/a Feb 7 - Feb 21
Broccoli Jan 24 - Feb 7 Mar 6 - Mar 20 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jan 24 - Feb 7 Mar 6 - Mar 20 n/a
Cabbage Jan 24 - Feb 7 Mar 6 - Mar 20 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Mar 20 - Apr 3
Carrots n/a n/a Feb 21 - Mar 20
Cauliflower Jan 24 - Feb 7 Mar 6 - Mar 20 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Feb 21 - Mar 6
Collards Jan 24 - Feb 7 Mar 6 - Mar 20 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Apr 3 - Apr 17
Cucumbers n/a n/a Apr 3 - Apr 17
Eggplants Jan 24 - Feb 7 Apr 3 - Apr 17 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Apr 3 - Apr 17
Kale Jan 24 - Feb 7 Mar 6 - Mar 20 n/a
Kohlrabi Jan 24 - Feb 7 Mar 6 - Mar 20 n/a
Lettuce Jan 24 - Feb 7 Feb 21 - Mar 20 Feb 21 - Mar 20
Mustard Jan 24 - Feb 7 Mar 6 - Mar 20 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Apr 3 - Apr 17
Onions Jan 17 - Jan 24 Feb 3 - Mar 4 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Feb 3 - Mar 4
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Apr 3 - May 1
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Feb 3 - Mar 4
Peppers Jan 24 - Feb 7 Apr 3 - Apr 17 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Feb 3 - Mar 4
Radishes n/a n/a Feb 18 - Apr 17
Spinach Jan 24 - Feb 7 Mar 6 - Mar 20 Feb 18 - Mar 20
Sweet Potatoes n/a Apr 3 - Apr 24 n/a
Tomatoes Jan 24 - Feb 7 Apr 3 - Apr 17 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Apr 3 - Apr 17

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 15. 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 August 7. 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 October 1, 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 September 6, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around July 18 and then transplant them into the garden around August 27. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around September 1.

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 August 2.

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 Aug 2 - Sep 1
Beets n/a n/a Sep 1 - Oct 16
Broccoli Jun 21 - Aug 5 Aug 2 - Sep 16 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jun 21 - Aug 5 Aug 2 - Sep 16 n/a
Cabbage Jun 21 - Aug 5 Aug 2 - Sep 16 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jul 18 - Aug 2
Carrots n/a n/a Aug 17 - Oct 16
Cauliflower Jun 21 - Aug 5 Aug 2 - Sep 16 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Aug 2 - Oct 16
Collards Jul 18 - Sep 1 Aug 17 - Oct 1 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Aug 2 - Aug 17
Cucumbers n/a n/a Aug 2 - Aug 17
Eggplants Jun 6 - Jun 21 Jul 18 - Aug 2 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Sep 1 - Oct 16
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jul 3 - Aug 2
Kale Jun 21 - Aug 5 Aug 2 - Sep 16 n/a
Kohlrabi Jun 21 - Aug 5 Aug 2 - Sep 16 n/a
Lettuce Aug 17 - Sep 16 Sep 16 - Oct 16 Sep 16 - Oct 16
Mustard n/a n/a Sep 16 - Oct 16
Okra n/a n/a Jul 3 - Aug 2
Onions n/a n/a Oct 16 - Oct 26
Parsley Jul 3 - Aug 17 Aug 17 - Oct 1 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Aug 17 - Sep 16
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jul 3 - Aug 2
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Aug 17 - Sep 16
Peppers Jun 11 - Jun 26 Jul 23 - Aug 7 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Aug 17 - Sep 16
Radishes n/a n/a Sep 16 - Oct 16
Spinach Aug 2 - Sep 16 Sep 1 - Oct 16 Sep 1 - Oct 16
Tomatoes Jun 11 - Jun 26 Jul 23 - Aug 7 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Oct 1 - Oct 31
Watermelon n/a n/a Jul 3 - Aug 2

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 "Queen Ann's Lace"

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