When to Plant Vegetables in London, UK

Your vegetable planning guide for London, UK

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Apr 25 and ends Nov 15, totalling 204 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 14, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around February 15 and then transplant them into the garden around April 5. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around February 25. 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 15. Then, around April 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 April 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 Mar 11 - Mar 26 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Apr 25 - May 23
Beets n/a n/a Feb 29 - Mar 14
Broccoli Feb 15 - Feb 29 Mar 28 - Apr 11 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Feb 15 - Feb 29 Mar 28 - Apr 11 n/a
Cabbage Feb 15 - Feb 29 Mar 28 - Apr 11 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Apr 11 - Apr 25
Carrots n/a n/a Mar 14 - Apr 11
Cauliflower Feb 15 - Feb 29 Mar 28 - Apr 11 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Mar 14 - Mar 28
Collards Feb 15 - Feb 29 Mar 28 - Apr 11 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Apr 25 - May 9
Cucumbers n/a n/a Apr 25 - May 9
Eggplants Feb 15 - Feb 29 Apr 25 - May 9 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Apr 25 - May 9
Kale Feb 15 - Feb 29 Mar 28 - Apr 11 n/a
Kohlrabi Feb 15 - Feb 29 Mar 28 - Apr 11 n/a
Lettuce Feb 15 - Feb 29 Mar 14 - Apr 11 Mar 14 - Apr 11
Mustard Feb 15 - Feb 29 Mar 28 - Apr 11 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Apr 25 - May 9
Onions Feb 8 - Feb 15 Feb 25 - Mar 26 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Feb 25 - Mar 26
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Apr 25 - May 23
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Feb 25 - Mar 26
Peppers Feb 15 - Feb 29 Apr 25 - May 9 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Feb 25 - Mar 26
Radishes n/a n/a Mar 11 - May 9
Spinach Feb 15 - Feb 29 Mar 28 - Apr 11 Mar 11 - Apr 11
Sweet Potatoes n/a Apr 25 - May 16 n/a
Tomatoes Feb 15 - Feb 29 Apr 25 - May 9 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Apr 25 - May 9

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 15. 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 7. 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 1, 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 6, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around July 18 and then transplant them into the garden around August 27. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around September 1.

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 2.

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 2 - Sep 1
Beets n/a n/a Sep 1 - Oct 16
Broccoli Jun 21 - Aug 5 Aug 2 - Sep 16 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jun 21 - Aug 5 Aug 2 - Sep 16 n/a
Cabbage Jun 21 - Aug 5 Aug 2 - Sep 16 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jul 18 - Aug 2
Carrots n/a n/a Aug 17 - Oct 16
Cauliflower Jun 21 - Aug 5 Aug 2 - Sep 16 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Aug 2 - Oct 16
Collards Jul 18 - Sep 1 Aug 17 - Oct 1 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Aug 2 - Aug 17
Cucumbers n/a n/a Aug 2 - Aug 17
Eggplants Jun 6 - Jun 21 Jul 18 - Aug 2 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Sep 1 - Oct 16
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jul 3 - Aug 2
Kale Jun 21 - Aug 5 Aug 2 - Sep 16 n/a
Kohlrabi Jun 21 - Aug 5 Aug 2 - Sep 16 n/a
Lettuce Aug 17 - Sep 16 Sep 16 - Oct 16 Sep 16 - Oct 16
Mustard n/a n/a Sep 16 - Oct 16
Okra n/a n/a Jul 3 - Aug 2
Onions n/a n/a Oct 16 - Oct 26
Parsley Jul 3 - Aug 17 Aug 17 - Oct 1 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Aug 17 - Sep 16
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jul 3 - Aug 2
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Aug 17 - Sep 16
Peppers Jun 11 - Jun 26 Jul 23 - Aug 7 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Aug 17 - Sep 16
Radishes n/a n/a Sep 16 - Oct 16
Spinach Aug 2 - Sep 16 Sep 1 - Oct 16 Sep 1 - Oct 16
Tomatoes Jun 11 - Jun 26 Jul 23 - Aug 7 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Oct 1 - Oct 31
Watermelon n/a n/a Jul 3 - Aug 2

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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