When to Plant Vegetables in Albuquerque, NM

Your vegetable planning guide for Albuquerque, NM

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Apr 16 and ends Oct 28, totalling 195 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 5, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around February 6 and then transplant them into the garden around March 27. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around February 16. 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 6. Then, around April 12 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 16, 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 2 - Mar 17 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Apr 16 - May 14
Beets n/a n/a Feb 20 - Mar 5
Broccoli Feb 6 - Feb 20 Mar 19 - Apr 2 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Feb 6 - Feb 20 Mar 19 - Apr 2 n/a
Cabbage Feb 6 - Feb 20 Mar 19 - Apr 2 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Apr 2 - Apr 16
Carrots n/a n/a Mar 5 - Apr 2
Cauliflower Feb 6 - Feb 20 Mar 19 - Apr 2 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Mar 5 - Mar 19
Collards Feb 6 - Feb 20 Mar 19 - Apr 2 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Apr 16 - Apr 30
Cucumbers n/a n/a Apr 16 - Apr 30
Eggplants Feb 6 - Feb 20 Apr 16 - Apr 30 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Apr 16 - Apr 30
Kale Feb 6 - Feb 20 Mar 19 - Apr 2 n/a
Kohlrabi Feb 6 - Feb 20 Mar 19 - Apr 2 n/a
Lettuce Feb 6 - Feb 20 Mar 5 - Apr 2 Mar 5 - Apr 2
Mustard Feb 6 - Feb 20 Mar 19 - Apr 2 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Apr 16 - Apr 30
Onions Jan 30 - Feb 6 Feb 16 - Mar 17 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Feb 16 - Mar 17
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Apr 16 - May 14
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Feb 16 - Mar 17
Peppers Feb 6 - Feb 20 Apr 16 - Apr 30 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Feb 16 - Mar 17
Radishes n/a n/a Mar 2 - Apr 30
Spinach Feb 6 - Feb 20 Mar 19 - Apr 2 Mar 2 - Apr 2
Sweet Potatoes n/a Apr 16 - May 7 n/a
Tomatoes Feb 6 - Feb 20 Apr 16 - Apr 30 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Apr 16 - Apr 30

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 28. 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 20. 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 13, 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 19, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around June 30 and then transplant them into the garden around August 9. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around August 14.

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 15.

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 15 - Aug 14
Beets n/a n/a Aug 14 - Sep 28
Broccoli Jun 3 - Jul 18 Jul 15 - Aug 29 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jun 3 - Jul 18 Jul 15 - Aug 29 n/a
Cabbage Jun 3 - Jul 18 Jul 15 - Aug 29 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jun 30 - Jul 15
Carrots n/a n/a Jul 30 - Sep 28
Cauliflower Jun 3 - Jul 18 Jul 15 - Aug 29 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jul 15 - Sep 28
Collards Jun 30 - Aug 14 Jul 30 - Sep 13 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jul 15 - Jul 30
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jul 15 - Jul 30
Eggplants May 19 - Jun 3 Jun 30 - Jul 15 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Aug 14 - Sep 28
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jun 15 - Jul 15
Kale Jun 3 - Jul 18 Jul 15 - Aug 29 n/a
Kohlrabi Jun 3 - Jul 18 Jul 15 - Aug 29 n/a
Lettuce Jul 30 - Aug 29 Aug 29 - Sep 28 Aug 29 - Sep 28
Mustard n/a n/a Aug 29 - Sep 28
Okra n/a n/a Jun 15 - Jul 15
Onions n/a n/a Sep 28 - Oct 8
Parsley Jun 15 - Jul 30 Jul 30 - Sep 13 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jul 30 - Aug 29
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jun 15 - Jul 15
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jul 30 - Aug 29
Peppers May 24 - Jun 8 Jul 5 - Jul 20 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jul 30 - Aug 29
Radishes n/a n/a Aug 29 - Sep 28
Spinach Jul 15 - Aug 29 Aug 14 - Sep 28 Aug 14 - Sep 28
Tomatoes May 24 - Jun 8 Jul 5 - Jul 20 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Sep 13 - Oct 13
Watermelon n/a n/a Jun 15 - Jul 15

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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