When to Plant Vegetables in Wichita Mid-continent, KS

Your vegetable planning guide for Wichita Mid-continent, KS

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Apr 12 and ends Oct 26, totalling 197 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 1, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around February 2 and then transplant them into the garden around March 23. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around February 12. 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 2. Then, around April 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 April 12, 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 27 - Mar 13 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Apr 12 - May 10
Beets n/a n/a Feb 16 - Mar 1
Broccoli Feb 2 - Feb 16 Mar 15 - Mar 29 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Feb 2 - Feb 16 Mar 15 - Mar 29 n/a
Cabbage Feb 2 - Feb 16 Mar 15 - Mar 29 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Mar 29 - Apr 12
Carrots n/a n/a Mar 1 - Mar 29
Cauliflower Feb 2 - Feb 16 Mar 15 - Mar 29 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Mar 1 - Mar 15
Collards Feb 2 - Feb 16 Mar 15 - Mar 29 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Apr 12 - Apr 26
Cucumbers n/a n/a Apr 12 - Apr 26
Eggplants Feb 2 - Feb 16 Apr 12 - Apr 26 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Apr 12 - Apr 26
Kale Feb 2 - Feb 16 Mar 15 - Mar 29 n/a
Kohlrabi Feb 2 - Feb 16 Mar 15 - Mar 29 n/a
Lettuce Feb 2 - Feb 16 Mar 1 - Mar 29 Mar 1 - Mar 29
Mustard Feb 2 - Feb 16 Mar 15 - Mar 29 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Apr 12 - Apr 26
Onions Jan 26 - Feb 2 Feb 12 - Mar 13 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Feb 12 - Mar 13
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Apr 12 - May 10
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Feb 12 - Mar 13
Peppers Feb 2 - Feb 16 Apr 12 - Apr 26 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Feb 12 - Mar 13
Radishes n/a n/a Feb 27 - Apr 26
Spinach Feb 2 - Feb 16 Mar 15 - Mar 29 Feb 27 - Mar 29
Sweet Potatoes n/a Apr 12 - May 3 n/a
Tomatoes Feb 2 - Feb 16 Apr 12 - Apr 26 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Apr 12 - Apr 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 26. 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 18. 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 11, 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 17, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around June 28 and then transplant them into the garden around August 7. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around August 12.

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 13.

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 13 - Aug 12
Beets n/a n/a Aug 12 - Sep 26
Broccoli Jun 1 - Jul 16 Jul 13 - Aug 27 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jun 1 - Jul 16 Jul 13 - Aug 27 n/a
Cabbage Jun 1 - Jul 16 Jul 13 - Aug 27 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jun 28 - Jul 13
Carrots n/a n/a Jul 28 - Sep 26
Cauliflower Jun 1 - Jul 16 Jul 13 - Aug 27 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jul 13 - Sep 26
Collards Jun 28 - Aug 12 Jul 28 - Sep 11 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jul 13 - Jul 28
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jul 13 - Jul 28
Eggplants May 17 - Jun 1 Jun 28 - Jul 13 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Aug 12 - Sep 26
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jun 13 - Jul 13
Kale Jun 1 - Jul 16 Jul 13 - Aug 27 n/a
Kohlrabi Jun 1 - Jul 16 Jul 13 - Aug 27 n/a
Lettuce Jul 28 - Aug 27 Aug 27 - Sep 26 Aug 27 - Sep 26
Mustard n/a n/a Aug 27 - Sep 26
Okra n/a n/a Jun 13 - Jul 13
Onions n/a n/a Sep 26 - Oct 6
Parsley Jun 13 - Jul 28 Jul 28 - Sep 11 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jul 28 - Aug 27
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jun 13 - Jul 13
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jul 28 - Aug 27
Peppers May 22 - Jun 6 Jul 3 - Jul 18 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jul 28 - Aug 27
Radishes n/a n/a Aug 27 - Sep 26
Spinach Jul 13 - Aug 27 Aug 12 - Sep 26 Aug 12 - Sep 26
Tomatoes May 22 - Jun 6 Jul 3 - Jul 18 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Sep 11 - Oct 11
Watermelon n/a n/a Jun 13 - Jul 13

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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