When to Plant Vegetables in Joplin, MO

Your vegetable planning guide for Joplin, MO

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Apr 6 and ends Oct 25, totalling 202 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 February 24, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around January 27 and then transplant them into the garden around March 17. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around February 6. 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 January 27. Then, around April 2 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 6, 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 21 - Mar 7 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Apr 6 - May 4
Beets n/a n/a Feb 10 - Feb 24
Broccoli Jan 27 - Feb 10 Mar 9 - Mar 23 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jan 27 - Feb 10 Mar 9 - Mar 23 n/a
Cabbage Jan 27 - Feb 10 Mar 9 - Mar 23 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Mar 23 - Apr 6
Carrots n/a n/a Feb 24 - Mar 23
Cauliflower Jan 27 - Feb 10 Mar 9 - Mar 23 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Feb 24 - Mar 9
Collards Jan 27 - Feb 10 Mar 9 - Mar 23 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Apr 6 - Apr 20
Cucumbers n/a n/a Apr 6 - Apr 20
Eggplants Jan 27 - Feb 10 Apr 6 - Apr 20 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Apr 6 - Apr 20
Kale Jan 27 - Feb 10 Mar 9 - Mar 23 n/a
Kohlrabi Jan 27 - Feb 10 Mar 9 - Mar 23 n/a
Lettuce Jan 27 - Feb 10 Feb 24 - Mar 23 Feb 24 - Mar 23
Mustard Jan 27 - Feb 10 Mar 9 - Mar 23 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Apr 6 - Apr 20
Onions Jan 20 - Jan 27 Feb 6 - Mar 7 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Feb 6 - Mar 7
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Apr 6 - May 4
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Feb 6 - Mar 7
Peppers Jan 27 - Feb 10 Apr 6 - Apr 20 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Feb 6 - Mar 7
Radishes n/a n/a Feb 21 - Apr 20
Spinach Jan 27 - Feb 10 Mar 9 - Mar 23 Feb 21 - Mar 23
Sweet Potatoes n/a Apr 6 - Apr 27 n/a
Tomatoes Jan 27 - Feb 10 Apr 6 - Apr 20 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Apr 6 - Apr 20

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 25. 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 17. 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 10, 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 16, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around June 27 and then transplant them into the garden around August 6. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around August 11.

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 12.

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 12 - Aug 11
Beets n/a n/a Aug 11 - Sep 25
Broccoli May 31 - Jul 15 Jul 12 - Aug 26 n/a
Brussel Sprouts May 31 - Jul 15 Jul 12 - Aug 26 n/a
Cabbage May 31 - Jul 15 Jul 12 - Aug 26 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jun 27 - Jul 12
Carrots n/a n/a Jul 27 - Sep 25
Cauliflower May 31 - Jul 15 Jul 12 - Aug 26 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jul 12 - Sep 25
Collards Jun 27 - Aug 11 Jul 27 - Sep 10 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jul 12 - Jul 27
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jul 12 - Jul 27
Eggplants May 16 - May 31 Jun 27 - Jul 12 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Aug 11 - Sep 25
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jun 12 - Jul 12
Kale May 31 - Jul 15 Jul 12 - Aug 26 n/a
Kohlrabi May 31 - Jul 15 Jul 12 - Aug 26 n/a
Lettuce Jul 27 - Aug 26 Aug 26 - Sep 25 Aug 26 - Sep 25
Mustard n/a n/a Aug 26 - Sep 25
Okra n/a n/a Jun 12 - Jul 12
Onions n/a n/a Sep 25 - Oct 5
Parsley Jun 12 - Jul 27 Jul 27 - Sep 10 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jul 27 - Aug 26
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jun 12 - Jul 12
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jul 27 - Aug 26
Peppers May 21 - Jun 5 Jul 2 - Jul 17 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jul 27 - Aug 26
Radishes n/a n/a Aug 26 - Sep 25
Spinach Jul 12 - Aug 26 Aug 11 - Sep 25 Aug 11 - Sep 25
Tomatoes May 21 - Jun 5 Jul 2 - Jul 17 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Sep 10 - Oct 10
Watermelon n/a n/a Jun 12 - Jul 12

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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