When to Plant Vegetables in Winters, TX

Your vegetable planning guide for Winters, TX

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Mar 26 and ends Nov 11, totalling 230 days. You will find both Spring and Fall planting guides on this page.

Print this pagePrinter Friendly Version

For the Spring:
Your Spring Planting Strategy
Cole crops like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage can be direct seeded into your garden around February 13, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around January 16 and then transplant them into the garden around March 6. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around January 26. 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 January 16. Then, around March 22 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 26, 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 Feb 10 - Feb 25 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Mar 26 - Apr 23
Beets n/a n/a Jan 30 - Feb 13
Broccoli Jan 16 - Jan 30 Feb 27 - Mar 12 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jan 16 - Jan 30 Feb 27 - Mar 12 n/a
Cabbage Jan 16 - Jan 30 Feb 27 - Mar 12 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Mar 12 - Mar 26
Carrots n/a n/a Feb 13 - Mar 12
Cauliflower Jan 16 - Jan 30 Feb 27 - Mar 12 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Feb 13 - Feb 27
Collards Jan 16 - Jan 30 Feb 27 - Mar 12 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Mar 26 - Apr 9
Cucumbers n/a n/a Mar 26 - Apr 9
Eggplants Jan 16 - Jan 30 Mar 26 - Apr 9 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Mar 26 - Apr 9
Kale Jan 16 - Jan 30 Feb 27 - Mar 12 n/a
Kohlrabi Jan 16 - Jan 30 Feb 27 - Mar 12 n/a
Lettuce Jan 16 - Jan 30 Feb 13 - Mar 12 Feb 13 - Mar 12
Mustard Jan 16 - Jan 30 Feb 27 - Mar 12 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Mar 26 - Apr 9
Onions Jan 9 - Jan 16 Jan 26 - Feb 25 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jan 26 - Feb 25
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Mar 26 - Apr 23
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jan 26 - Feb 25
Peppers Jan 16 - Jan 30 Mar 26 - Apr 9 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jan 26 - Feb 25
Radishes n/a n/a Feb 10 - Apr 9
Spinach Jan 16 - Jan 30 Feb 27 - Mar 12 Feb 10 - Mar 12
Sweet Potatoes n/a Mar 26 - Apr 16 n/a
Tomatoes Jan 16 - Jan 30 Mar 26 - Apr 9 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Mar 26 - Apr 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 11. 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 3. 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 27, 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 2, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around July 14 and then transplant them into the garden around August 23. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around August 28.

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 29.

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 29 - Aug 28
Beets n/a n/a Aug 28 - Oct 12
Broccoli Jun 17 - Aug 1 Jul 29 - Sep 12 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jun 17 - Aug 1 Jul 29 - Sep 12 n/a
Cabbage Jun 17 - Aug 1 Jul 29 - Sep 12 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jul 14 - Jul 29
Carrots n/a n/a Aug 13 - Oct 12
Cauliflower Jun 17 - Aug 1 Jul 29 - Sep 12 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jul 29 - Oct 12
Collards Jul 14 - Aug 28 Aug 13 - Sep 27 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jul 29 - Aug 13
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jul 29 - Aug 13
Eggplants Jun 2 - Jun 17 Jul 14 - Jul 29 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Aug 28 - Oct 12
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jun 29 - Jul 29
Kale Jun 17 - Aug 1 Jul 29 - Sep 12 n/a
Kohlrabi Jun 17 - Aug 1 Jul 29 - Sep 12 n/a
Lettuce Aug 13 - Sep 12 Sep 12 - Oct 12 Sep 12 - Oct 12
Mustard n/a n/a Sep 12 - Oct 12
Okra n/a n/a Jun 29 - Jul 29
Onions n/a n/a Oct 12 - Oct 22
Parsley Jun 29 - Aug 13 Aug 13 - Sep 27 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Aug 13 - Sep 12
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jun 29 - Jul 29
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Aug 13 - Sep 12
Peppers Jun 7 - Jun 22 Jul 19 - Aug 3 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Aug 13 - Sep 12
Radishes n/a n/a Sep 12 - Oct 12
Spinach Jul 29 - Sep 12 Aug 28 - Oct 12 Aug 28 - Oct 12
Tomatoes Jun 7 - Jun 22 Jul 19 - Aug 3 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Sep 27 - Oct 27
Watermelon n/a n/a Jun 29 - Jul 29

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?

Explore More:

Member Login:

( No account? Join now! )

Today's site banner is by adknative and is called "Dreaming of Daylilies"

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.