When to Plant Vegetables in Fairhope, AL

Your vegetable planning guide for Fairhope, AL

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Feb 22 and ends Dec 1, totalling 283 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 11, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around December 14 and then transplant them into the garden around February 2. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around December 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 December 14. Then, around February 18 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 22, 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 8 - Jan 23 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Feb 22 - Mar 21
Beets n/a n/a Dec 28 - Jan 11
Broccoli Dec 14 - Dec 28 Jan 25 - Feb 8 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Dec 14 - Dec 28 Jan 25 - Feb 8 n/a
Cabbage Dec 14 - Dec 28 Jan 25 - Feb 8 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Feb 8 - Feb 22
Carrots n/a n/a Jan 11 - Feb 8
Cauliflower Dec 14 - Dec 28 Jan 25 - Feb 8 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jan 11 - Jan 25
Collards Dec 14 - Dec 28 Jan 25 - Feb 8 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Feb 22 - Mar 7
Cucumbers n/a n/a Feb 22 - Mar 7
Eggplants Dec 14 - Dec 28 Feb 22 - Mar 7 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Feb 22 - Mar 7
Kale Dec 14 - Dec 28 Jan 25 - Feb 8 n/a
Kohlrabi Dec 14 - Dec 28 Jan 25 - Feb 8 n/a
Lettuce Dec 14 - Dec 28 Jan 11 - Feb 8 Jan 11 - Feb 8
Mustard Dec 14 - Dec 28 Jan 25 - Feb 8 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Feb 22 - Mar 7
Onions Dec 7 - Dec 14 Dec 24 - Jan 23 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Dec 24 - Jan 23
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Feb 22 - Mar 21
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Dec 24 - Jan 23
Peppers Dec 14 - Dec 28 Feb 22 - Mar 7 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Dec 24 - Jan 23
Radishes n/a n/a Jan 8 - Mar 7
Spinach Dec 14 - Dec 28 Jan 25 - Feb 8 Jan 8 - Feb 8
Sweet Potatoes n/a Feb 22 - Mar 14 n/a
Tomatoes Dec 14 - Dec 28 Feb 22 - Mar 7 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Feb 22 - Mar 7

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 1. 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 23. 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 17, 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 22, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around August 3 and then transplant them into the garden around September 12. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around September 17.

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 18.

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 18 - Sep 17
Beets n/a n/a Sep 17 - Nov 1
Broccoli Jul 7 - Aug 21 Aug 18 - Oct 2 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jul 7 - Aug 21 Aug 18 - Oct 2 n/a
Cabbage Jul 7 - Aug 21 Aug 18 - Oct 2 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Aug 3 - Aug 18
Carrots n/a n/a Sep 2 - Nov 1
Cauliflower Jul 7 - Aug 21 Aug 18 - Oct 2 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Aug 18 - Nov 1
Collards Aug 3 - Sep 17 Sep 2 - Oct 17 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Aug 18 - Sep 2
Cucumbers n/a n/a Aug 18 - Sep 2
Eggplants Jun 22 - Jul 7 Aug 3 - Aug 18 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Sep 17 - Nov 1
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jul 19 - Aug 18
Kale Jul 7 - Aug 21 Aug 18 - Oct 2 n/a
Kohlrabi Jul 7 - Aug 21 Aug 18 - Oct 2 n/a
Lettuce Sep 2 - Oct 2 Oct 2 - Nov 1 Oct 2 - Nov 1
Mustard n/a n/a Oct 2 - Nov 1
Okra n/a n/a Jul 19 - Aug 18
Onions n/a n/a Nov 1 - Nov 11
Parsley Jul 19 - Sep 2 Sep 2 - Oct 17 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Sep 2 - Oct 2
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jul 19 - Aug 18
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Sep 2 - Oct 2
Peppers Jun 27 - Jul 12 Aug 8 - Aug 23 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Sep 2 - Oct 2
Radishes n/a n/a Oct 2 - Nov 1
Spinach Aug 18 - Oct 2 Sep 17 - Nov 1 Sep 17 - Nov 1
Tomatoes Jun 27 - Jul 12 Aug 8 - Aug 23 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Oct 17 - Nov 16
Watermelon n/a n/a Jul 19 - Aug 18

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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