When to Plant Vegetables in Calgary, AB

Your vegetable planning guide for Calgary, AB

On average, your frost-free growing season starts May 23 and ends Sep 15, totalling 115 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 11, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around March 14 and then transplant them into the garden around May 3. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around March 24. 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 14. Then, around May 19 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 23, 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 May 3, 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 8 - Apr 23 n/a
Beans n/a n/a May 23 - Jun 20
Beets n/a n/a Mar 28 - Apr 11
Broccoli Mar 14 - Mar 28 Apr 25 - May 9 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Mar 14 - Mar 28 Apr 25 - May 9 n/a
Cabbage Mar 14 - Mar 28 Apr 25 - May 9 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a May 9 - May 23
Carrots n/a n/a Apr 11 - May 9
Cauliflower Mar 14 - Mar 28 Apr 25 - May 9 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Apr 11 - Apr 25
Collards Mar 14 - Mar 28 Apr 25 - May 9 n/a
Corn n/a n/a May 23 - Jun 6
Cucumbers n/a n/a May 23 - Jun 6
Eggplants Mar 14 - Mar 28 May 23 - Jun 6 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 23 - Jun 6
Kale Mar 14 - Mar 28 Apr 25 - May 9 n/a
Kohlrabi Mar 14 - Mar 28 Apr 25 - May 9 n/a
Lettuce Mar 14 - Mar 28 Apr 11 - May 9 Apr 11 - May 9
Mustard Mar 14 - Mar 28 Apr 25 - May 9 n/a
Okra n/a n/a May 23 - Jun 6
Onions Mar 7 - Mar 14 Mar 24 - Apr 23 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Mar 24 - Apr 23
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 23 - Jun 20
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Mar 24 - Apr 23
Peppers Mar 14 - Mar 28 May 23 - Jun 6 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Mar 24 - Apr 23
Radishes n/a n/a Apr 8 - Jun 6
Spinach Mar 14 - Mar 28 Apr 25 - May 9 Apr 8 - May 9
Sweet Potatoes n/a May 23 - Jun 13 n/a
Tomatoes Mar 14 - Mar 28 May 23 - Jun 6 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a May 23 - Jun 6

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 September 15. 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 7. 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 1, 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 7, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around May 18 and then transplant them into the garden around June 27. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around July 2.

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 2.

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 2 - Jul 2
Beets n/a n/a Jul 2 - Aug 16
Broccoli Apr 21 - Jun 5 Jun 2 - Jul 17 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Apr 21 - Jun 5 Jun 2 - Jul 17 n/a
Cabbage Apr 21 - Jun 5 Jun 2 - Jul 17 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a May 18 - Jun 2
Carrots n/a n/a Jun 17 - Aug 16
Cauliflower Apr 21 - Jun 5 Jun 2 - Jul 17 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jun 2 - Aug 16
Collards May 18 - Jul 2 Jun 17 - Aug 1 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jun 2 - Jun 17
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jun 2 - Jun 17
Eggplants Apr 6 - Apr 21 May 18 - Jun 2 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Jul 2 - Aug 16
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 3 - Jun 2
Kale Apr 21 - Jun 5 Jun 2 - Jul 17 n/a
Kohlrabi Apr 21 - Jun 5 Jun 2 - Jul 17 n/a
Lettuce Jun 17 - Jul 17 Jul 17 - Aug 16 Jul 17 - Aug 16
Mustard n/a n/a Jul 17 - Aug 16
Okra n/a n/a May 3 - Jun 2
Onions n/a n/a Aug 16 - Aug 26
Parsley May 3 - Jun 17 Jun 17 - Aug 1 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jun 17 - Jul 17
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 3 - Jun 2
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jun 17 - Jul 17
Peppers Apr 11 - Apr 26 May 23 - Jun 7 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jun 17 - Jul 17
Radishes n/a n/a Jul 17 - Aug 16
Spinach Jun 2 - Jul 17 Jul 2 - Aug 16 Jul 2 - Aug 16
Tomatoes Apr 11 - Apr 26 May 23 - Jun 7 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Aug 1 - Aug 31
Watermelon n/a n/a May 3 - Jun 2

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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