When to Plant Vegetables in Halifax, NS

Your vegetable planning guide for Halifax, NS

On average, your frost-free growing season starts May 6 and ends Oct 20, totalling 167 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 25, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around February 26 and then transplant them into the garden around April 16. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around March 7. 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 26. Then, around May 2 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 May 6, or if your soil is still very cold, once the soil is near 60° F in temperature. Having said that, we note that your location has a shorter than average growing season. Many summer vegetables need more days to mature than your area will provide. For that reason, we recommend you get a head-start by starting these summer vegetables indoors around April 16, and transplant those seedlings out after the danger of frost is past.

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 22 - Apr 6 n/a
Beans n/a n/a May 6 - Jun 3
Beets n/a n/a Mar 11 - Mar 25
Broccoli Feb 26 - Mar 11 Apr 8 - Apr 22 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Feb 26 - Mar 11 Apr 8 - Apr 22 n/a
Cabbage Feb 26 - Mar 11 Apr 8 - Apr 22 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Apr 22 - May 6
Carrots n/a n/a Mar 25 - Apr 22
Cauliflower Feb 26 - Mar 11 Apr 8 - Apr 22 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Mar 25 - Apr 8
Collards Feb 26 - Mar 11 Apr 8 - Apr 22 n/a
Corn n/a n/a May 6 - May 20
Cucumbers n/a n/a May 6 - May 20
Eggplants Feb 26 - Mar 11 May 6 - May 20 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 6 - May 20
Kale Feb 26 - Mar 11 Apr 8 - Apr 22 n/a
Kohlrabi Feb 26 - Mar 11 Apr 8 - Apr 22 n/a
Lettuce Feb 26 - Mar 11 Mar 25 - Apr 22 Mar 25 - Apr 22
Mustard Feb 26 - Mar 11 Apr 8 - Apr 22 n/a
Okra n/a n/a May 6 - May 20
Onions Feb 19 - Feb 26 Mar 7 - Apr 6 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Mar 7 - Apr 6
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 6 - Jun 3
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Mar 7 - Apr 6
Peppers Feb 26 - Mar 11 May 6 - May 20 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Mar 7 - Apr 6
Radishes n/a n/a Mar 22 - May 20
Spinach Feb 26 - Mar 11 Apr 8 - Apr 22 Mar 22 - Apr 22
Sweet Potatoes n/a May 6 - May 27 n/a
Tomatoes Feb 26 - Mar 11 May 6 - May 20 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a May 6 - May 20

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 20. 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 12. 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 5, 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 11, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around June 22 and then transplant them into the garden around August 1. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around August 6.

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 7.

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 7 - Aug 6
Beets n/a n/a Aug 6 - Sep 20
Broccoli May 26 - Jul 10 Jul 7 - Aug 21 n/a
Brussel Sprouts May 26 - Jul 10 Jul 7 - Aug 21 n/a
Cabbage May 26 - Jul 10 Jul 7 - Aug 21 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jun 22 - Jul 7
Carrots n/a n/a Jul 22 - Sep 20
Cauliflower May 26 - Jul 10 Jul 7 - Aug 21 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jul 7 - Sep 20
Collards Jun 22 - Aug 6 Jul 22 - Sep 5 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jul 7 - Jul 22
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jul 7 - Jul 22
Eggplants May 11 - May 26 Jun 22 - Jul 7 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Aug 6 - Sep 20
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jun 7 - Jul 7
Kale May 26 - Jul 10 Jul 7 - Aug 21 n/a
Kohlrabi May 26 - Jul 10 Jul 7 - Aug 21 n/a
Lettuce Jul 22 - Aug 21 Aug 21 - Sep 20 Aug 21 - Sep 20
Mustard n/a n/a Aug 21 - Sep 20
Okra n/a n/a Jun 7 - Jul 7
Onions n/a n/a Sep 20 - Sep 30
Parsley Jun 7 - Jul 22 Jul 22 - Sep 5 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jul 22 - Aug 21
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jun 7 - Jul 7
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jul 22 - Aug 21
Peppers May 16 - May 31 Jun 27 - Jul 12 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jul 22 - Aug 21
Radishes n/a n/a Aug 21 - Sep 20
Spinach Jul 7 - Aug 21 Aug 6 - Sep 20 Aug 6 - Sep 20
Tomatoes May 16 - May 31 Jun 27 - Jul 12 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Sep 5 - Oct 5
Watermelon n/a n/a Jun 7 - Jul 7

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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