When to Plant Vegetables in Saint Augustine, Florida

Your vegetable planning guide for Saint Augustine, Florida

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Feb 25 and ends Dec 10, totalling 289 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 14, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around December 17 and then transplant them into the garden around February 5. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around December 27. 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 17. Then, around February 21 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 February 25, 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 11 - Jan 26 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Feb 25 - Mar 24
Beets n/a n/a Dec 31 - Jan 14
Broccoli Dec 17 - Dec 31 Jan 28 - Feb 11 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Dec 17 - Dec 31 Jan 28 - Feb 11 n/a
Cabbage Dec 17 - Dec 31 Jan 28 - Feb 11 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Feb 11 - Feb 25
Carrots n/a n/a Jan 14 - Feb 11
Cauliflower Dec 17 - Dec 31 Jan 28 - Feb 11 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jan 14 - Jan 28
Collards Dec 17 - Dec 31 Jan 28 - Feb 11 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Feb 25 - Mar 10
Cucumbers n/a n/a Feb 25 - Mar 10
Eggplants Dec 17 - Dec 31 Feb 25 - Mar 10 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Feb 25 - Mar 10
Kale Dec 17 - Dec 31 Jan 28 - Feb 11 n/a
Kohlrabi Dec 17 - Dec 31 Jan 28 - Feb 11 n/a
Lettuce Dec 17 - Dec 31 Jan 14 - Feb 11 Jan 14 - Feb 11
Mustard Dec 17 - Dec 31 Jan 28 - Feb 11 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Feb 25 - Mar 10
Onions Dec 10 - Dec 17 Dec 27 - Jan 26 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Dec 27 - Jan 26
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Feb 25 - Mar 24
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Dec 27 - Jan 26
Peppers Dec 17 - Dec 31 Feb 25 - Mar 10 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Dec 27 - Jan 26
Radishes n/a n/a Jan 11 - Mar 10
Spinach Dec 17 - Dec 31 Jan 28 - Feb 11 Jan 11 - Feb 11
Sweet Potatoes n/a Feb 25 - Mar 17 n/a
Tomatoes Dec 17 - Dec 31 Feb 25 - Mar 10 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Feb 25 - Mar 10

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 December 10. 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 September 1. 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 26, 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 October 1, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around August 12 and then transplant them into the garden around September 21. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around September 26.

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 27.

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 27 - Sep 26
Beets n/a n/a Sep 26 - Nov 10
Broccoli Jul 16 - Aug 30 Aug 27 - Oct 11 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jul 16 - Aug 30 Aug 27 - Oct 11 n/a
Cabbage Jul 16 - Aug 30 Aug 27 - Oct 11 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Aug 12 - Aug 27
Carrots n/a n/a Sep 11 - Nov 10
Cauliflower Jul 16 - Aug 30 Aug 27 - Oct 11 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Aug 27 - Nov 10
Collards Aug 12 - Sep 26 Sep 11 - Oct 26 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Aug 27 - Sep 11
Cucumbers n/a n/a Aug 27 - Sep 11
Eggplants Jul 1 - Jul 16 Aug 12 - Aug 27 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Sep 26 - Nov 10
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jul 28 - Aug 27
Kale Jul 16 - Aug 30 Aug 27 - Oct 11 n/a
Kohlrabi Jul 16 - Aug 30 Aug 27 - Oct 11 n/a
Lettuce Sep 11 - Oct 11 Oct 11 - Nov 10 Oct 11 - Nov 10
Mustard n/a n/a Oct 11 - Nov 10
Okra n/a n/a Jul 28 - Aug 27
Onions n/a n/a Nov 10 - Nov 20
Parsley Jul 28 - Sep 11 Sep 11 - Oct 26 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Sep 11 - Oct 11
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jul 28 - Aug 27
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Sep 11 - Oct 11
Peppers Jul 6 - Jul 21 Aug 17 - Sep 1 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Sep 11 - Oct 11
Radishes n/a n/a Oct 11 - Nov 10
Spinach Aug 27 - Oct 11 Sep 26 - Nov 10 Sep 26 - Nov 10
Tomatoes Jul 6 - Jul 21 Aug 17 - Sep 1 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Oct 26 - Nov 25
Watermelon n/a n/a Jul 28 - Aug 27

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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