When to Plant Vegetables in Raleigh, NC

Your vegetable planning guide for Raleigh, NC

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Apr 4 and ends Oct 28, totalling 207 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 22, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around January 25 and then transplant them into the garden around March 15. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around February 4. 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 25. Then, around March 31 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 4, 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 19 - Mar 5 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Apr 4 - May 2
Beets n/a n/a Feb 8 - Feb 22
Broccoli Jan 25 - Feb 8 Mar 7 - Mar 21 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jan 25 - Feb 8 Mar 7 - Mar 21 n/a
Cabbage Jan 25 - Feb 8 Mar 7 - Mar 21 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Mar 21 - Apr 4
Carrots n/a n/a Feb 22 - Mar 21
Cauliflower Jan 25 - Feb 8 Mar 7 - Mar 21 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Feb 22 - Mar 7
Collards Jan 25 - Feb 8 Mar 7 - Mar 21 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Apr 4 - Apr 18
Cucumbers n/a n/a Apr 4 - Apr 18
Eggplants Jan 25 - Feb 8 Apr 4 - Apr 18 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Apr 4 - Apr 18
Kale Jan 25 - Feb 8 Mar 7 - Mar 21 n/a
Kohlrabi Jan 25 - Feb 8 Mar 7 - Mar 21 n/a
Lettuce Jan 25 - Feb 8 Feb 22 - Mar 21 Feb 22 - Mar 21
Mustard Jan 25 - Feb 8 Mar 7 - Mar 21 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Apr 4 - Apr 18
Onions Jan 18 - Jan 25 Feb 4 - Mar 5 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Feb 4 - Mar 5
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Apr 4 - May 2
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Feb 4 - Mar 5
Peppers Jan 25 - Feb 8 Apr 4 - Apr 18 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Feb 4 - Mar 5
Radishes n/a n/a Feb 19 - Apr 18
Spinach Jan 25 - Feb 8 Mar 7 - Mar 21 Feb 19 - Mar 21
Sweet Potatoes n/a Apr 4 - Apr 25 n/a
Tomatoes Jan 25 - Feb 8 Apr 4 - Apr 18 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Apr 4 - Apr 18

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 28. 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 20. 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 13, 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 19, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around June 30 and then transplant them into the garden around August 9. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around August 14.

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 15.

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 15 - Aug 14
Beets n/a n/a Aug 14 - Sep 28
Broccoli Jun 3 - Jul 18 Jul 15 - Aug 29 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jun 3 - Jul 18 Jul 15 - Aug 29 n/a
Cabbage Jun 3 - Jul 18 Jul 15 - Aug 29 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jun 30 - Jul 15
Carrots n/a n/a Jul 30 - Sep 28
Cauliflower Jun 3 - Jul 18 Jul 15 - Aug 29 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jul 15 - Sep 28
Collards Jun 30 - Aug 14 Jul 30 - Sep 13 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jul 15 - Jul 30
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jul 15 - Jul 30
Eggplants May 19 - Jun 3 Jun 30 - Jul 15 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Aug 14 - Sep 28
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jun 15 - Jul 15
Kale Jun 3 - Jul 18 Jul 15 - Aug 29 n/a
Kohlrabi Jun 3 - Jul 18 Jul 15 - Aug 29 n/a
Lettuce Jul 30 - Aug 29 Aug 29 - Sep 28 Aug 29 - Sep 28
Mustard n/a n/a Aug 29 - Sep 28
Okra n/a n/a Jun 15 - Jul 15
Onions n/a n/a Sep 28 - Oct 8
Parsley Jun 15 - Jul 30 Jul 30 - Sep 13 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jul 30 - Aug 29
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jun 15 - Jul 15
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jul 30 - Aug 29
Peppers May 24 - Jun 8 Jul 5 - Jul 20 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jul 30 - Aug 29
Radishes n/a n/a Aug 29 - Sep 28
Spinach Jul 15 - Aug 29 Aug 14 - Sep 28 Aug 14 - Sep 28
Tomatoes May 24 - Jun 8 Jul 5 - Jul 20 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Sep 13 - Oct 13
Watermelon n/a n/a Jun 15 - Jul 15

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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