When to Plant Vegetables in Bloomington, California

Your vegetable planning guide for Bloomington, California

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Feb 5 and ends Dec 3, totalling 302 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 December 25, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around November 27 and then transplant them into the garden around January 16. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around December 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 November 27. Then, around February 1 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 February 5, 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 Dec 22 - Jan 6 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Feb 5 - Mar 4
Beets n/a n/a Dec 11 - Dec 25
Broccoli Nov 27 - Dec 11 Jan 8 - Jan 22 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Nov 27 - Dec 11 Jan 8 - Jan 22 n/a
Cabbage Nov 27 - Dec 11 Jan 8 - Jan 22 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jan 22 - Feb 5
Carrots n/a n/a Dec 25 - Jan 22
Cauliflower Nov 27 - Dec 11 Jan 8 - Jan 22 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Dec 25 - Jan 8
Collards Nov 27 - Dec 11 Jan 8 - Jan 22 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Feb 5 - Feb 19
Cucumbers n/a n/a Feb 5 - Feb 19
Eggplants Nov 27 - Dec 11 Feb 5 - Feb 19 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Feb 5 - Feb 19
Kale Nov 27 - Dec 11 Jan 8 - Jan 22 n/a
Kohlrabi Nov 27 - Dec 11 Jan 8 - Jan 22 n/a
Lettuce Nov 27 - Dec 11 Dec 25 - Jan 22 Dec 25 - Jan 22
Mustard Nov 27 - Dec 11 Jan 8 - Jan 22 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Feb 5 - Feb 19
Onions Nov 20 - Nov 27 Dec 7 - Jan 6 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Dec 7 - Jan 6
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Feb 5 - Mar 4
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Dec 7 - Jan 6
Peppers Nov 27 - Dec 11 Feb 5 - Feb 19 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Dec 7 - Jan 6
Radishes n/a n/a Dec 22 - Feb 19
Spinach Nov 27 - Dec 11 Jan 8 - Jan 22 Dec 22 - Jan 22
Sweet Potatoes n/a Feb 5 - Feb 26 n/a
Tomatoes Nov 27 - Dec 11 Feb 5 - Feb 19 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Feb 5 - Feb 19

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 December 3. 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 August 25. 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 October 19, 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 September 24, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around August 5 and then transplant them into the garden around September 14. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around September 19.

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 August 20.

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 Aug 20 - Sep 19
Beets n/a n/a Sep 19 - Nov 3
Broccoli Jul 9 - Aug 23 Aug 20 - Oct 4 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jul 9 - Aug 23 Aug 20 - Oct 4 n/a
Cabbage Jul 9 - Aug 23 Aug 20 - Oct 4 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Aug 5 - Aug 20
Carrots n/a n/a Sep 4 - Nov 3
Cauliflower Jul 9 - Aug 23 Aug 20 - Oct 4 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Aug 20 - Nov 3
Collards Aug 5 - Sep 19 Sep 4 - Oct 19 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Aug 20 - Sep 4
Cucumbers n/a n/a Aug 20 - Sep 4
Eggplants Jun 24 - Jul 9 Aug 5 - Aug 20 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Sep 19 - Nov 3
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jul 21 - Aug 20
Kale Jul 9 - Aug 23 Aug 20 - Oct 4 n/a
Kohlrabi Jul 9 - Aug 23 Aug 20 - Oct 4 n/a
Lettuce Sep 4 - Oct 4 Oct 4 - Nov 3 Oct 4 - Nov 3
Mustard n/a n/a Oct 4 - Nov 3
Okra n/a n/a Jul 21 - Aug 20
Onions n/a n/a Nov 3 - Nov 13
Parsley Jul 21 - Sep 4 Sep 4 - Oct 19 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Sep 4 - Oct 4
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jul 21 - Aug 20
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Sep 4 - Oct 4
Peppers Jun 29 - Jul 14 Aug 10 - Aug 25 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Sep 4 - Oct 4
Radishes n/a n/a Oct 4 - Nov 3
Spinach Aug 20 - Oct 4 Sep 19 - Nov 3 Sep 19 - Nov 3
Tomatoes Jun 29 - Jul 14 Aug 10 - Aug 25 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Oct 19 - Nov 18
Watermelon n/a n/a Jul 21 - Aug 20

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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