Final Planting Dates for Succession Planting

The first steps are determining the last spring and first fall frost dates for the area and deciding whether to start the first round of seeds indoors 6 – 8 weeks before the last spring frost or sowing seeds directly in garden after last spring frost. The gardener will also need to choose vegetables to be planted in cold frames or those which will be covered with row covers at final sowing. These will most likely be cool season crops such as cabbage, kale, lettuce and others.

Sowing Seeds

Sow the first planting directly in garden soil after the last spring frost. If seeds were started indoors, this is the time to set the seedlings out in the garden.

Leave space in the garden for successive plantings. Approximately every two weeks after first planting, sow new seeds in space allotted. As the season progresses, original plantings will stop producing and should be removed from the garden. This will clear up space to continue sowing new seeds throughout the season.

Final Planting

Based on average first frost of fall across the United States, examples of final sowing dates for a select few vegetables are listed below. Planting by this date should give the vegetables time to mature on the plants.

If First Fall Frost Date Is Mid-September

• Beans – The month of June.
• Broccoli – May through mid-June
• Cabbage – mid-May through late June
• Carrot – mid-May through first week of August
• Corn – The month of June
• Garlic – Early October
• Green Onion – May through mid-July
• Kale – mid-May through June
• Leek – May through July
• Lettuce – mid-May through July
• Melon – May through mid-June
• Peppers – May through mid-July
• Radicchio – mid-September through first week of October
• Rutabaga – May through first week of July
• Spinach – The month of August
• Squash – mid-May through June
• Tomatoes – The month of June
• Turnips – June through mid-July

If First Fall Frost Date Is Mid-November

• Beans – July through mid-September
• Broccoli – August through mid-September
• Cabbage – mid-August through mid-October
• Carrot -August through October
• Corn – June through August
• Cucumber – June through mid-August
• Eggplant – June through July
• Garlic – August through mid-October
• Green Onion – August through October
• Kale – August through mid-October
• Leek – August through October
• Lettuce – mid-August through October
• Melon – mid to late July
• Peppers – July through mid-August
• Rutabaga – mid- July through October
• Spinach – mid-September through November
• Squash – June through mid-August
• Tomatoes – June through July
• Turnips – September through mid-November

The dates above are approximations for the vegetables listed. Each gardener should sow seeds based on her own experiences, climate conditions and type of vegetables chosen. To find the best time to sow the last batch of seeds in succession planting, locate the first fall frost date and the length of time for vegetables to reach maturity; then count back that number of weeks; this will be the date to sow the seeds. Adding a few extra days to this number will give a bit of a buffer in the event of an earlier frost.

For more tips on succession planting, see the article; ‚”Thinking Beyond the Spring Garden.”

Sources:

‚”Four Season Harvest” by Eliot Coleman

‚”How to Grow More Vegetables” by John Jeavons

United States Department of Agriculture website