When to Plant Vegetables in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Your vegetable planning guide for Chattanooga, Tennessee

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Apr 1 and ends Nov 4, totalling 217 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 February 19, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around January 22 and then transplant them into the garden around March 12. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around February 1. 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 22. Then, around March 28 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 1, 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 16 - Mar 2 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Apr 1 - Apr 29
Beets n/a n/a Feb 5 - Feb 19
Broccoli Jan 22 - Feb 5 Mar 4 - Mar 18 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jan 22 - Feb 5 Mar 4 - Mar 18 n/a
Cabbage Jan 22 - Feb 5 Mar 4 - Mar 18 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Mar 18 - Apr 1
Carrots n/a n/a Feb 19 - Mar 18
Cauliflower Jan 22 - Feb 5 Mar 4 - Mar 18 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Feb 19 - Mar 4
Collards Jan 22 - Feb 5 Mar 4 - Mar 18 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Apr 1 - Apr 15
Cucumbers n/a n/a Apr 1 - Apr 15
Eggplants Jan 22 - Feb 5 Apr 1 - Apr 15 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Apr 1 - Apr 15
Kale Jan 22 - Feb 5 Mar 4 - Mar 18 n/a
Kohlrabi Jan 22 - Feb 5 Mar 4 - Mar 18 n/a
Lettuce Jan 22 - Feb 5 Feb 19 - Mar 18 Feb 19 - Mar 18
Mustard Jan 22 - Feb 5 Mar 4 - Mar 18 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Apr 1 - Apr 15
Onions Jan 15 - Jan 22 Feb 1 - Mar 2 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Feb 1 - Mar 2
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Apr 1 - Apr 29
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Feb 1 - Mar 2
Peppers Jan 22 - Feb 5 Apr 1 - Apr 15 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Feb 1 - Mar 2
Radishes n/a n/a Feb 16 - Apr 15
Spinach Jan 22 - Feb 5 Mar 4 - Mar 18 Feb 16 - Mar 18
Sweet Potatoes n/a Apr 1 - Apr 22 n/a
Tomatoes Jan 22 - Feb 5 Apr 1 - Apr 15 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Apr 1 - Apr 15

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 4. 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 27. 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 20, 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 26, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around July 7 and then transplant them into the garden around August 16. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around August 21.

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 22.

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 22 - Aug 21
Beets n/a n/a Aug 21 - Oct 5
Broccoli Jun 10 - Jul 25 Jul 22 - Sep 5 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jun 10 - Jul 25 Jul 22 - Sep 5 n/a
Cabbage Jun 10 - Jul 25 Jul 22 - Sep 5 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jul 7 - Jul 22
Carrots n/a n/a Aug 6 - Oct 5
Cauliflower Jun 10 - Jul 25 Jul 22 - Sep 5 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jul 22 - Oct 5
Collards Jul 7 - Aug 21 Aug 6 - Sep 20 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jul 22 - Aug 6
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jul 22 - Aug 6
Eggplants May 26 - Jun 10 Jul 7 - Jul 22 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Aug 21 - Oct 5
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jun 22 - Jul 22
Kale Jun 10 - Jul 25 Jul 22 - Sep 5 n/a
Kohlrabi Jun 10 - Jul 25 Jul 22 - Sep 5 n/a
Lettuce Aug 6 - Sep 5 Sep 5 - Oct 5 Sep 5 - Oct 5
Mustard n/a n/a Sep 5 - Oct 5
Okra n/a n/a Jun 22 - Jul 22
Onions n/a n/a Oct 5 - Oct 15
Parsley Jun 22 - Aug 6 Aug 6 - Sep 20 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Aug 6 - Sep 5
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jun 22 - Jul 22
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Aug 6 - Sep 5
Peppers May 31 - Jun 15 Jul 12 - Jul 27 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Aug 6 - Sep 5
Radishes n/a n/a Sep 5 - Oct 5
Spinach Jul 22 - Sep 5 Aug 21 - Oct 5 Aug 21 - Oct 5
Tomatoes May 31 - Jun 15 Jul 12 - Jul 27 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Sep 20 - Oct 20
Watermelon n/a n/a Jun 22 - Jul 22

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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