When to Plant Vegetables in Houston Bush, TX

Your vegetable planning guide for Houston Bush, TX

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Mar 1 and ends Nov 30, totalling 274 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 January 19, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around December 22 and then transplant them into the garden around February 10. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around January 1. 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 December 22. Then, around February 26 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 March 1, 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 Jan 16 - Jan 31 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Mar 1 - Mar 29
Beets n/a n/a Jan 5 - Jan 19
Broccoli Dec 22 - Jan 5 Feb 2 - Feb 16 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Dec 22 - Jan 5 Feb 2 - Feb 16 n/a
Cabbage Dec 22 - Jan 5 Feb 2 - Feb 16 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Feb 16 - Mar 1
Carrots n/a n/a Jan 19 - Feb 16
Cauliflower Dec 22 - Jan 5 Feb 2 - Feb 16 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jan 19 - Feb 2
Collards Dec 22 - Jan 5 Feb 2 - Feb 16 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Mar 1 - Mar 15
Cucumbers n/a n/a Mar 1 - Mar 15
Eggplants Dec 22 - Jan 5 Mar 1 - Mar 15 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Mar 1 - Mar 15
Kale Dec 22 - Jan 5 Feb 2 - Feb 16 n/a
Kohlrabi Dec 22 - Jan 5 Feb 2 - Feb 16 n/a
Lettuce Dec 22 - Jan 5 Jan 19 - Feb 16 Jan 19 - Feb 16
Mustard Dec 22 - Jan 5 Feb 2 - Feb 16 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Mar 1 - Mar 15
Onions Dec 15 - Dec 22 Jan 1 - Jan 31 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jan 1 - Jan 31
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Mar 1 - Mar 29
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jan 1 - Jan 31
Peppers Dec 22 - Jan 5 Mar 1 - Mar 15 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jan 1 - Jan 31
Radishes n/a n/a Jan 16 - Mar 15
Spinach Dec 22 - Jan 5 Feb 2 - Feb 16 Jan 16 - Feb 16
Sweet Potatoes n/a Mar 1 - Mar 22 n/a
Tomatoes Dec 22 - Jan 5 Mar 1 - Mar 15 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Mar 1 - Mar 15

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 30. 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 22. 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 16, 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 21, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around August 2 and then transplant them into the garden around September 11. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around September 16.

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 17.

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 17 - Sep 16
Beets n/a n/a Sep 16 - Oct 31
Broccoli Jul 6 - Aug 20 Aug 17 - Oct 1 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jul 6 - Aug 20 Aug 17 - Oct 1 n/a
Cabbage Jul 6 - Aug 20 Aug 17 - Oct 1 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Aug 2 - Aug 17
Carrots n/a n/a Sep 1 - Oct 31
Cauliflower Jul 6 - Aug 20 Aug 17 - Oct 1 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Aug 17 - Oct 31
Collards Aug 2 - Sep 16 Sep 1 - Oct 16 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Aug 17 - Sep 1
Cucumbers n/a n/a Aug 17 - Sep 1
Eggplants Jun 21 - Jul 6 Aug 2 - Aug 17 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Sep 16 - Oct 31
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jul 18 - Aug 17
Kale Jul 6 - Aug 20 Aug 17 - Oct 1 n/a
Kohlrabi Jul 6 - Aug 20 Aug 17 - Oct 1 n/a
Lettuce Sep 1 - Oct 1 Oct 1 - Oct 31 Oct 1 - Oct 31
Mustard n/a n/a Oct 1 - Oct 31
Okra n/a n/a Jul 18 - Aug 17
Onions n/a n/a Oct 31 - Nov 10
Parsley Jul 18 - Sep 1 Sep 1 - Oct 16 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Sep 1 - Oct 1
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jul 18 - Aug 17
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Sep 1 - Oct 1
Peppers Jun 26 - Jul 11 Aug 7 - Aug 22 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Sep 1 - Oct 1
Radishes n/a n/a Oct 1 - Oct 31
Spinach Aug 17 - Oct 1 Sep 16 - Oct 31 Sep 16 - Oct 31
Tomatoes Jun 26 - Jul 11 Aug 7 - Aug 22 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Oct 16 - Nov 15
Watermelon n/a n/a Jul 18 - Aug 17

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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