When to Plant Vegetables in Buffalo Niagara Intl, NY

Your vegetable planning guide for Buffalo Niagara Intl, NY

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Apr 24 and ends Oct 19, totalling 178 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 13, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around February 14 and then transplant them into the garden around April 4. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around February 24. 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 14. Then, around April 20 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 24, 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 Mar 10 - Mar 25 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Apr 24 - May 22
Beets n/a n/a Feb 28 - Mar 13
Broccoli Feb 14 - Feb 28 Mar 27 - Apr 10 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Feb 14 - Feb 28 Mar 27 - Apr 10 n/a
Cabbage Feb 14 - Feb 28 Mar 27 - Apr 10 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Apr 10 - Apr 24
Carrots n/a n/a Mar 13 - Apr 10
Cauliflower Feb 14 - Feb 28 Mar 27 - Apr 10 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Mar 13 - Mar 27
Collards Feb 14 - Feb 28 Mar 27 - Apr 10 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Apr 24 - May 8
Cucumbers n/a n/a Apr 24 - May 8
Eggplants Feb 14 - Feb 28 Apr 24 - May 8 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Apr 24 - May 8
Kale Feb 14 - Feb 28 Mar 27 - Apr 10 n/a
Kohlrabi Feb 14 - Feb 28 Mar 27 - Apr 10 n/a
Lettuce Feb 14 - Feb 28 Mar 13 - Apr 10 Mar 13 - Apr 10
Mustard Feb 14 - Feb 28 Mar 27 - Apr 10 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Apr 24 - May 8
Onions Feb 7 - Feb 14 Feb 24 - Mar 25 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Feb 24 - Mar 25
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Apr 24 - May 22
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Feb 24 - Mar 25
Peppers Feb 14 - Feb 28 Apr 24 - May 8 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Feb 24 - Mar 25
Radishes n/a n/a Mar 10 - May 8
Spinach Feb 14 - Feb 28 Mar 27 - Apr 10 Mar 10 - Apr 10
Sweet Potatoes n/a Apr 24 - May 15 n/a
Tomatoes Feb 14 - Feb 28 Apr 24 - May 8 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Apr 24 - May 8

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 19. 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 11. 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 4, 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 10, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around June 21 and then transplant them into the garden around July 31. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around August 5.

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 6.

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 6 - Aug 5
Beets n/a n/a Aug 5 - Sep 19
Broccoli May 25 - Jul 9 Jul 6 - Aug 20 n/a
Brussel Sprouts May 25 - Jul 9 Jul 6 - Aug 20 n/a
Cabbage May 25 - Jul 9 Jul 6 - Aug 20 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jun 21 - Jul 6
Carrots n/a n/a Jul 21 - Sep 19
Cauliflower May 25 - Jul 9 Jul 6 - Aug 20 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jul 6 - Sep 19
Collards Jun 21 - Aug 5 Jul 21 - Sep 4 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jul 6 - Jul 21
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jul 6 - Jul 21
Eggplants May 10 - May 25 Jun 21 - Jul 6 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Aug 5 - Sep 19
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jun 6 - Jul 6
Kale May 25 - Jul 9 Jul 6 - Aug 20 n/a
Kohlrabi May 25 - Jul 9 Jul 6 - Aug 20 n/a
Lettuce Jul 21 - Aug 20 Aug 20 - Sep 19 Aug 20 - Sep 19
Mustard n/a n/a Aug 20 - Sep 19
Okra n/a n/a Jun 6 - Jul 6
Onions n/a n/a Sep 19 - Sep 29
Parsley Jun 6 - Jul 21 Jul 21 - Sep 4 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jul 21 - Aug 20
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jun 6 - Jul 6
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jul 21 - Aug 20
Peppers May 15 - May 30 Jun 26 - Jul 11 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jul 21 - Aug 20
Radishes n/a n/a Aug 20 - Sep 19
Spinach Jul 6 - Aug 20 Aug 5 - Sep 19 Aug 5 - Sep 19
Tomatoes May 15 - May 30 Jun 26 - Jul 11 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Sep 4 - Oct 4
Watermelon n/a n/a Jun 6 - Jul 6

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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