When to Plant Vegetables in Chino Valley, Arizona

Your vegetable planning guide for Chino Valley, Arizona

On average, your frost-free growing season starts May 18 and ends Oct 12, totalling 147 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 April 6, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around March 9 and then transplant them into the garden around April 28. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around March 19. 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 March 9. Then, around May 14 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 18, 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 28, 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 Apr 3 - Apr 18 n/a
Beans n/a n/a May 18 - Jun 15
Beets n/a n/a Mar 23 - Apr 6
Broccoli Mar 9 - Mar 23 Apr 20 - May 4 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Mar 9 - Mar 23 Apr 20 - May 4 n/a
Cabbage Mar 9 - Mar 23 Apr 20 - May 4 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a May 4 - May 18
Carrots n/a n/a Apr 6 - May 4
Cauliflower Mar 9 - Mar 23 Apr 20 - May 4 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Apr 6 - Apr 20
Collards Mar 9 - Mar 23 Apr 20 - May 4 n/a
Corn n/a n/a May 18 - Jun 1
Cucumbers n/a n/a May 18 - Jun 1
Eggplants Mar 9 - Mar 23 May 18 - Jun 1 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 18 - Jun 1
Kale Mar 9 - Mar 23 Apr 20 - May 4 n/a
Kohlrabi Mar 9 - Mar 23 Apr 20 - May 4 n/a
Lettuce Mar 9 - Mar 23 Apr 6 - May 4 Apr 6 - May 4
Mustard Mar 9 - Mar 23 Apr 20 - May 4 n/a
Okra n/a n/a May 18 - Jun 1
Onions Mar 2 - Mar 9 Mar 19 - Apr 18 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Mar 19 - Apr 18
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 18 - Jun 15
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Mar 19 - Apr 18
Peppers Mar 9 - Mar 23 May 18 - Jun 1 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Mar 19 - Apr 18
Radishes n/a n/a Apr 3 - Jun 1
Spinach Mar 9 - Mar 23 Apr 20 - May 4 Apr 3 - May 4
Sweet Potatoes n/a May 18 - Jun 8 n/a
Tomatoes Mar 9 - Mar 23 May 18 - Jun 1 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a May 18 - Jun 1

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 12. 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 4. 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 28, 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 3, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around June 14 and then transplant them into the garden around July 24. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around July 29.

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 29.

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 29 - Jul 29
Beets n/a n/a Jul 29 - Sep 12
Broccoli May 18 - Jul 2 Jun 29 - Aug 13 n/a
Brussel Sprouts May 18 - Jul 2 Jun 29 - Aug 13 n/a
Cabbage May 18 - Jul 2 Jun 29 - Aug 13 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jun 14 - Jun 29
Carrots n/a n/a Jul 14 - Sep 12
Cauliflower May 18 - Jul 2 Jun 29 - Aug 13 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jun 29 - Sep 12
Collards Jun 14 - Jul 29 Jul 14 - Aug 28 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jun 29 - Jul 14
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jun 29 - Jul 14
Eggplants May 3 - May 18 Jun 14 - Jun 29 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Jul 29 - Sep 12
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 30 - Jun 29
Kale May 18 - Jul 2 Jun 29 - Aug 13 n/a
Kohlrabi May 18 - Jul 2 Jun 29 - Aug 13 n/a
Lettuce Jul 14 - Aug 13 Aug 13 - Sep 12 Aug 13 - Sep 12
Mustard n/a n/a Aug 13 - Sep 12
Okra n/a n/a May 30 - Jun 29
Onions n/a n/a Sep 12 - Sep 22
Parsley May 30 - Jul 14 Jul 14 - Aug 28 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jul 14 - Aug 13
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 30 - Jun 29
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jul 14 - Aug 13
Peppers May 8 - May 23 Jun 19 - Jul 4 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jul 14 - Aug 13
Radishes n/a n/a Aug 13 - Sep 12
Spinach Jun 29 - Aug 13 Jul 29 - Sep 12 Jul 29 - Sep 12
Tomatoes May 8 - May 23 Jun 19 - Jul 4 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Aug 28 - Sep 27
Watermelon n/a n/a May 30 - Jun 29

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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