When to Plant Vegetables in Cincinnati, OH

Your vegetable planning guide for Cincinnati, OH

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Apr 13 and ends Oct 23, totalling 193 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 2, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around February 3 and then transplant them into the garden around March 24. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around February 13. 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 3. Then, around April 9 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 13, 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 28 - Mar 14 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Apr 13 - May 11
Beets n/a n/a Feb 17 - Mar 2
Broccoli Feb 3 - Feb 17 Mar 16 - Mar 30 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Feb 3 - Feb 17 Mar 16 - Mar 30 n/a
Cabbage Feb 3 - Feb 17 Mar 16 - Mar 30 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Mar 30 - Apr 13
Carrots n/a n/a Mar 2 - Mar 30
Cauliflower Feb 3 - Feb 17 Mar 16 - Mar 30 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Mar 2 - Mar 16
Collards Feb 3 - Feb 17 Mar 16 - Mar 30 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Apr 13 - Apr 27
Cucumbers n/a n/a Apr 13 - Apr 27
Eggplants Feb 3 - Feb 17 Apr 13 - Apr 27 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Apr 13 - Apr 27
Kale Feb 3 - Feb 17 Mar 16 - Mar 30 n/a
Kohlrabi Feb 3 - Feb 17 Mar 16 - Mar 30 n/a
Lettuce Feb 3 - Feb 17 Mar 2 - Mar 30 Mar 2 - Mar 30
Mustard Feb 3 - Feb 17 Mar 16 - Mar 30 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Apr 13 - Apr 27
Onions Jan 27 - Feb 3 Feb 13 - Mar 14 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Feb 13 - Mar 14
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Apr 13 - May 11
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Feb 13 - Mar 14
Peppers Feb 3 - Feb 17 Apr 13 - Apr 27 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Feb 13 - Mar 14
Radishes n/a n/a Feb 28 - Apr 27
Spinach Feb 3 - Feb 17 Mar 16 - Mar 30 Feb 28 - Mar 30
Sweet Potatoes n/a Apr 13 - May 4 n/a
Tomatoes Feb 3 - Feb 17 Apr 13 - Apr 27 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Apr 13 - Apr 27

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 23. 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 15. 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 8, 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 14, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around June 25 and then transplant them into the garden around August 4. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around August 9.

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 10.

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 10 - Aug 9
Beets n/a n/a Aug 9 - Sep 23
Broccoli May 29 - Jul 13 Jul 10 - Aug 24 n/a
Brussel Sprouts May 29 - Jul 13 Jul 10 - Aug 24 n/a
Cabbage May 29 - Jul 13 Jul 10 - Aug 24 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jun 25 - Jul 10
Carrots n/a n/a Jul 25 - Sep 23
Cauliflower May 29 - Jul 13 Jul 10 - Aug 24 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jul 10 - Sep 23
Collards Jun 25 - Aug 9 Jul 25 - Sep 8 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jul 10 - Jul 25
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jul 10 - Jul 25
Eggplants May 14 - May 29 Jun 25 - Jul 10 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Aug 9 - Sep 23
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jun 10 - Jul 10
Kale May 29 - Jul 13 Jul 10 - Aug 24 n/a
Kohlrabi May 29 - Jul 13 Jul 10 - Aug 24 n/a
Lettuce Jul 25 - Aug 24 Aug 24 - Sep 23 Aug 24 - Sep 23
Mustard n/a n/a Aug 24 - Sep 23
Okra n/a n/a Jun 10 - Jul 10
Onions n/a n/a Sep 23 - Oct 3
Parsley Jun 10 - Jul 25 Jul 25 - Sep 8 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jul 25 - Aug 24
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jun 10 - Jul 10
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jul 25 - Aug 24
Peppers May 19 - Jun 3 Jun 30 - Jul 15 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jul 25 - Aug 24
Radishes n/a n/a Aug 24 - Sep 23
Spinach Jul 10 - Aug 24 Aug 9 - Sep 23 Aug 9 - Sep 23
Tomatoes May 19 - Jun 3 Jun 30 - Jul 15 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Sep 8 - Oct 8
Watermelon n/a n/a Jun 10 - Jul 10

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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