When to Plant Vegetables in Stockton Dam, MO

Your vegetable planning guide for Stockton Dam, MO

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Apr 10 and ends Oct 21, totalling 194 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 28, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around January 31 and then transplant them into the garden around March 21. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around February 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 January 31. Then, around April 6 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 10, 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 25 - Mar 11 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Apr 10 - May 8
Beets n/a n/a Feb 14 - Feb 28
Broccoli Jan 31 - Feb 14 Mar 13 - Mar 27 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jan 31 - Feb 14 Mar 13 - Mar 27 n/a
Cabbage Jan 31 - Feb 14 Mar 13 - Mar 27 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Mar 27 - Apr 10
Carrots n/a n/a Feb 28 - Mar 27
Cauliflower Jan 31 - Feb 14 Mar 13 - Mar 27 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Feb 28 - Mar 13
Collards Jan 31 - Feb 14 Mar 13 - Mar 27 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Apr 10 - Apr 24
Cucumbers n/a n/a Apr 10 - Apr 24
Eggplants Jan 31 - Feb 14 Apr 10 - Apr 24 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Apr 10 - Apr 24
Kale Jan 31 - Feb 14 Mar 13 - Mar 27 n/a
Kohlrabi Jan 31 - Feb 14 Mar 13 - Mar 27 n/a
Lettuce Jan 31 - Feb 14 Feb 28 - Mar 27 Feb 28 - Mar 27
Mustard Jan 31 - Feb 14 Mar 13 - Mar 27 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Apr 10 - Apr 24
Onions Jan 24 - Jan 31 Feb 10 - Mar 11 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Feb 10 - Mar 11
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Apr 10 - May 8
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Feb 10 - Mar 11
Peppers Jan 31 - Feb 14 Apr 10 - Apr 24 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Feb 10 - Mar 11
Radishes n/a n/a Feb 25 - Apr 24
Spinach Jan 31 - Feb 14 Mar 13 - Mar 27 Feb 25 - Mar 27
Sweet Potatoes n/a Apr 10 - May 1 n/a
Tomatoes Jan 31 - Feb 14 Apr 10 - Apr 24 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Apr 10 - Apr 24

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 21. 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 13. 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 6, 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 12, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around June 23 and then transplant them into the garden around August 2. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around August 7.

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 8.

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 8 - Aug 7
Beets n/a n/a Aug 7 - Sep 21
Broccoli May 27 - Jul 11 Jul 8 - Aug 22 n/a
Brussel Sprouts May 27 - Jul 11 Jul 8 - Aug 22 n/a
Cabbage May 27 - Jul 11 Jul 8 - Aug 22 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jun 23 - Jul 8
Carrots n/a n/a Jul 23 - Sep 21
Cauliflower May 27 - Jul 11 Jul 8 - Aug 22 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jul 8 - Sep 21
Collards Jun 23 - Aug 7 Jul 23 - Sep 6 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jul 8 - Jul 23
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jul 8 - Jul 23
Eggplants May 12 - May 27 Jun 23 - Jul 8 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Aug 7 - Sep 21
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jun 8 - Jul 8
Kale May 27 - Jul 11 Jul 8 - Aug 22 n/a
Kohlrabi May 27 - Jul 11 Jul 8 - Aug 22 n/a
Lettuce Jul 23 - Aug 22 Aug 22 - Sep 21 Aug 22 - Sep 21
Mustard n/a n/a Aug 22 - Sep 21
Okra n/a n/a Jun 8 - Jul 8
Onions n/a n/a Sep 21 - Oct 1
Parsley Jun 8 - Jul 23 Jul 23 - Sep 6 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jul 23 - Aug 22
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jun 8 - Jul 8
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jul 23 - Aug 22
Peppers May 17 - Jun 1 Jun 28 - Jul 13 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jul 23 - Aug 22
Radishes n/a n/a Aug 22 - Sep 21
Spinach Jul 8 - Aug 22 Aug 7 - Sep 21 Aug 7 - Sep 21
Tomatoes May 17 - Jun 1 Jun 28 - Jul 13 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Sep 6 - Oct 6
Watermelon n/a n/a Jun 8 - Jul 8

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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