When to Plant Vegetables in Wilmington, NC

Your vegetable planning guide for Wilmington, NC

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Mar 19 and ends Nov 18, totalling 244 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 6, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around January 9 and then transplant them into the garden around February 28. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around January 19. 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 9. Then, around March 15 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 March 19, 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 3 - Feb 18 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Mar 19 - Apr 16
Beets n/a n/a Jan 23 - Feb 6
Broccoli Jan 9 - Jan 23 Feb 20 - Mar 5 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jan 9 - Jan 23 Feb 20 - Mar 5 n/a
Cabbage Jan 9 - Jan 23 Feb 20 - Mar 5 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Mar 5 - Mar 19
Carrots n/a n/a Feb 6 - Mar 5
Cauliflower Jan 9 - Jan 23 Feb 20 - Mar 5 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Feb 6 - Feb 20
Collards Jan 9 - Jan 23 Feb 20 - Mar 5 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Mar 19 - Apr 2
Cucumbers n/a n/a Mar 19 - Apr 2
Eggplants Jan 9 - Jan 23 Mar 19 - Apr 2 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Mar 19 - Apr 2
Kale Jan 9 - Jan 23 Feb 20 - Mar 5 n/a
Kohlrabi Jan 9 - Jan 23 Feb 20 - Mar 5 n/a
Lettuce Jan 9 - Jan 23 Feb 6 - Mar 5 Feb 6 - Mar 5
Mustard Jan 9 - Jan 23 Feb 20 - Mar 5 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Mar 19 - Apr 2
Onions Jan 2 - Jan 9 Jan 19 - Feb 18 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jan 19 - Feb 18
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Mar 19 - Apr 16
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jan 19 - Feb 18
Peppers Jan 9 - Jan 23 Mar 19 - Apr 2 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jan 19 - Feb 18
Radishes n/a n/a Feb 3 - Apr 2
Spinach Jan 9 - Jan 23 Feb 20 - Mar 5 Feb 3 - Mar 5
Sweet Potatoes n/a Mar 19 - Apr 9 n/a
Tomatoes Jan 9 - Jan 23 Mar 19 - Apr 2 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Mar 19 - Apr 2

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 November 18. 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 10. 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 4, 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 9, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around July 21 and then transplant them into the garden around August 30. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around September 4.

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 5.

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 5 - Sep 4
Beets n/a n/a Sep 4 - Oct 19
Broccoli Jun 24 - Aug 8 Aug 5 - Sep 19 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Jun 24 - Aug 8 Aug 5 - Sep 19 n/a
Cabbage Jun 24 - Aug 8 Aug 5 - Sep 19 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jul 21 - Aug 5
Carrots n/a n/a Aug 20 - Oct 19
Cauliflower Jun 24 - Aug 8 Aug 5 - Sep 19 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Aug 5 - Oct 19
Collards Jul 21 - Sep 4 Aug 20 - Oct 4 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Aug 5 - Aug 20
Cucumbers n/a n/a Aug 5 - Aug 20
Eggplants Jun 9 - Jun 24 Jul 21 - Aug 5 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Sep 4 - Oct 19
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Jul 6 - Aug 5
Kale Jun 24 - Aug 8 Aug 5 - Sep 19 n/a
Kohlrabi Jun 24 - Aug 8 Aug 5 - Sep 19 n/a
Lettuce Aug 20 - Sep 19 Sep 19 - Oct 19 Sep 19 - Oct 19
Mustard n/a n/a Sep 19 - Oct 19
Okra n/a n/a Jul 6 - Aug 5
Onions n/a n/a Oct 19 - Oct 29
Parsley Jul 6 - Aug 20 Aug 20 - Oct 4 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Aug 20 - Sep 19
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Jul 6 - Aug 5
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Aug 20 - Sep 19
Peppers Jun 14 - Jun 29 Jul 26 - Aug 10 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Aug 20 - Sep 19
Radishes n/a n/a Sep 19 - Oct 19
Spinach Aug 5 - Sep 19 Sep 4 - Oct 19 Sep 4 - Oct 19
Tomatoes Jun 14 - Jun 29 Jul 26 - Aug 10 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Oct 4 - Nov 3
Watermelon n/a n/a Jul 6 - Aug 5

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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