When to Plant Vegetables in Wooster, Ohio

Your vegetable planning guide for Wooster, Ohio

On average, your frost-free growing season starts May 3 and ends Oct 8, totalling 158 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 22, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around February 23 and then transplant them into the garden around April 13. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around March 4. 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 23. Then, around April 29 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 3, 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 13, 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 19 - Apr 3 n/a
Beans n/a n/a May 3 - May 31
Beets n/a n/a Mar 8 - Mar 22
Broccoli Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Cabbage Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Apr 19 - May 3
Carrots n/a n/a Mar 22 - Apr 19
Cauliflower Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Mar 22 - Apr 5
Collards Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Corn n/a n/a May 3 - May 17
Cucumbers n/a n/a May 3 - May 17
Eggplants Feb 23 - Mar 8 May 3 - May 17 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 3 - May 17
Kale Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Kohlrabi Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Lettuce Feb 23 - Mar 8 Mar 22 - Apr 19 Mar 22 - Apr 19
Mustard Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 n/a
Okra n/a n/a May 3 - May 17
Onions Feb 16 - Feb 23 Mar 4 - Apr 3 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Mar 4 - Apr 3
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 3 - May 31
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Mar 4 - Apr 3
Peppers Feb 23 - Mar 8 May 3 - May 17 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Mar 4 - Apr 3
Radishes n/a n/a Mar 19 - May 17
Spinach Feb 23 - Mar 8 Apr 5 - Apr 19 Mar 19 - Apr 19
Sweet Potatoes n/a May 3 - May 24 n/a
Tomatoes Feb 23 - Mar 8 May 3 - May 17 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a May 3 - May 17

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 8. 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 June 30. 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 August 24, 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 July 30, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around June 10 and then transplant them into the garden around July 20. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around July 25.

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 June 25.

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 Jun 25 - Jul 25
Beets n/a n/a Jul 25 - Sep 8
Broccoli May 14 - Jun 28 Jun 25 - Aug 9 n/a
Brussel Sprouts May 14 - Jun 28 Jun 25 - Aug 9 n/a
Cabbage May 14 - Jun 28 Jun 25 - Aug 9 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jun 10 - Jun 25
Carrots n/a n/a Jul 10 - Sep 8
Cauliflower May 14 - Jun 28 Jun 25 - Aug 9 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jun 25 - Sep 8
Collards Jun 10 - Jul 25 Jul 10 - Aug 24 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jun 25 - Jul 10
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jun 25 - Jul 10
Eggplants Apr 29 - May 14 Jun 10 - Jun 25 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Jul 25 - Sep 8
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 26 - Jun 25
Kale May 14 - Jun 28 Jun 25 - Aug 9 n/a
Kohlrabi May 14 - Jun 28 Jun 25 - Aug 9 n/a
Lettuce Jul 10 - Aug 9 Aug 9 - Sep 8 Aug 9 - Sep 8
Mustard n/a n/a Aug 9 - Sep 8
Okra n/a n/a May 26 - Jun 25
Onions n/a n/a Sep 8 - Sep 18
Parsley May 26 - Jul 10 Jul 10 - Aug 24 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jul 10 - Aug 9
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 26 - Jun 25
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jul 10 - Aug 9
Peppers May 4 - May 19 Jun 15 - Jun 30 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jul 10 - Aug 9
Radishes n/a n/a Aug 9 - Sep 8
Spinach Jun 25 - Aug 9 Jul 25 - Sep 8 Jul 25 - Sep 8
Tomatoes May 4 - May 19 Jun 15 - Jun 30 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Aug 24 - Sep 23
Watermelon n/a n/a May 26 - Jun 25

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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