When to Plant Vegetables in Sacramento, CA

Your vegetable planning guide for Sacramento, CA

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Feb 10 and ends Dec 4, totalling 298 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 30, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around December 2 and then transplant them into the garden around January 21. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around December 12. 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 December 2. Then, around February 6 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 10, 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 27 - Jan 11 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Feb 10 - Mar 9
Beets n/a n/a Dec 16 - Dec 30
Broccoli Dec 2 - Dec 16 Jan 13 - Jan 27 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Dec 2 - Dec 16 Jan 13 - Jan 27 n/a
Cabbage Dec 2 - Dec 16 Jan 13 - Jan 27 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jan 27 - Feb 10
Carrots n/a n/a Dec 30 - Jan 27
Cauliflower Dec 2 - Dec 16 Jan 13 - Jan 27 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Dec 30 - Jan 13
Collards Dec 2 - Dec 16 Jan 13 - Jan 27 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Feb 10 - Feb 24
Cucumbers n/a n/a Feb 10 - Feb 24
Eggplants Dec 2 - Dec 16 Feb 10 - Feb 24 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Feb 10 - Feb 24
Kale Dec 2 - Dec 16 Jan 13 - Jan 27 n/a
Kohlrabi Dec 2 - Dec 16 Jan 13 - Jan 27 n/a
Lettuce Dec 2 - Dec 16 Dec 30 - Jan 27 Dec 30 - Jan 27
Mustard Dec 2 - Dec 16 Jan 13 - Jan 27 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Feb 10 - Feb 24
Onions Nov 25 - Dec 2 Dec 12 - Jan 11 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Dec 12 - Jan 11
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Feb 10 - Mar 9
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Dec 12 - Jan 11
Peppers Dec 2 - Dec 16 Feb 10 - Feb 24 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Dec 12 - Jan 11
Radishes n/a n/a Dec 27 - Feb 24
Spinach Dec 2 - Dec 16 Jan 13 - Jan 27 Dec 27 - Jan 27
Sweet Potatoes n/a Feb 10 - Mar 2 n/a
Tomatoes Dec 2 - Dec 16 Feb 10 - Feb 24 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Feb 10 - Feb 24

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 4. 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 26. 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 20, 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 25, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around August 6 and then transplant them into the garden around September 15. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around September 20.

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 21.

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 21 - Sep 20
Beets n/a n/a Sep 20 - Nov 4
Broccoli Jul 10 - Aug 24 Aug 21 - Oct 5 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jul 10 - Aug 24 Aug 21 - Oct 5 n/a
Cabbage Jul 10 - Aug 24 Aug 21 - Oct 5 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Aug 6 - Aug 21
Carrots n/a n/a Sep 5 - Nov 4
Cauliflower Jul 10 - Aug 24 Aug 21 - Oct 5 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Aug 21 - Nov 4
Collards Aug 6 - Sep 20 Sep 5 - Oct 20 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Aug 21 - Sep 5
Cucumbers n/a n/a Aug 21 - Sep 5
Eggplants Jun 25 - Jul 10 Aug 6 - Aug 21 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Sep 20 - Nov 4
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jul 22 - Aug 21
Kale Jul 10 - Aug 24 Aug 21 - Oct 5 n/a
Kohlrabi Jul 10 - Aug 24 Aug 21 - Oct 5 n/a
Lettuce Sep 5 - Oct 5 Oct 5 - Nov 4 Oct 5 - Nov 4
Mustard n/a n/a Oct 5 - Nov 4
Okra n/a n/a Jul 22 - Aug 21
Onions n/a n/a Nov 4 - Nov 14
Parsley Jul 22 - Sep 5 Sep 5 - Oct 20 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Sep 5 - Oct 5
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jul 22 - Aug 21
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Sep 5 - Oct 5
Peppers Jun 30 - Jul 15 Aug 11 - Aug 26 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Sep 5 - Oct 5
Radishes n/a n/a Oct 5 - Nov 4
Spinach Aug 21 - Oct 5 Sep 20 - Nov 4 Sep 20 - Nov 4
Tomatoes Jun 30 - Jul 15 Aug 11 - Aug 26 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Oct 20 - Nov 19
Watermelon n/a n/a Jul 22 - Aug 21

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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