When to Plant Vegetables in Omaha, NE

Your vegetable planning guide for Omaha, NE

On average, your frost-free growing season starts Apr 29 and ends Oct 2, totalling 156 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 18, assuming the ground can be worked, but it's better to start them indoors around February 19 and then transplant them into the garden around April 9. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around February 29. 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 19. Then, around April 25 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 29, 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 Mar 15 - Mar 30 n/a
Beans n/a n/a Apr 29 - May 27
Beets n/a n/a Mar 4 - Mar 18
Broccoli Feb 19 - Mar 4 Apr 1 - Apr 15 n/a
Brussel Sprouts Feb 19 - Mar 4 Apr 1 - Apr 15 n/a
Cabbage Feb 19 - Mar 4 Apr 1 - Apr 15 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Apr 15 - Apr 29
Carrots n/a n/a Mar 18 - Apr 15
Cauliflower Feb 19 - Mar 4 Apr 1 - Apr 15 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Mar 18 - Apr 1
Collards Feb 19 - Mar 4 Apr 1 - Apr 15 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Apr 29 - May 13
Cucumbers n/a n/a Apr 29 - May 13
Eggplants Feb 19 - Mar 4 Apr 29 - May 13 n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a Apr 29 - May 13
Kale Feb 19 - Mar 4 Apr 1 - Apr 15 n/a
Kohlrabi Feb 19 - Mar 4 Apr 1 - Apr 15 n/a
Lettuce Feb 19 - Mar 4 Mar 18 - Apr 15 Mar 18 - Apr 15
Mustard Feb 19 - Mar 4 Apr 1 - Apr 15 n/a
Okra n/a n/a Apr 29 - May 13
Onions Feb 12 - Feb 19 Feb 29 - Mar 30 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Feb 29 - Mar 30
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a Apr 29 - May 27
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Feb 29 - Mar 30
Peppers Feb 19 - Mar 4 Apr 29 - May 13 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Feb 29 - Mar 30
Radishes n/a n/a Mar 15 - May 13
Spinach Feb 19 - Mar 4 Apr 1 - Apr 15 Mar 15 - Apr 15
Sweet Potatoes n/a Apr 29 - May 20 n/a
Tomatoes Feb 19 - Mar 4 Apr 29 - May 13 n/a
Watermelon n/a n/a Apr 29 - May 13

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 2. 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 June 24. 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 August 18, 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 July 24, but because of the heat during that time of year, it's better to start them indoors around June 4 and then transplant them into the garden around July 14. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around July 19.

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 June 19.

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 Jun 19 - Jul 19
Beets n/a n/a Jul 19 - Sep 2
Broccoli May 8 - Jun 22 Jun 19 - Aug 3 n/a
Brussel Sprouts May 8 - Jun 22 Jun 19 - Aug 3 n/a
Cabbage May 8 - Jun 22 Jun 19 - Aug 3 n/a
Cantaloupe n/a n/a Jun 4 - Jun 19
Carrots n/a n/a Jul 4 - Sep 2
Cauliflower May 8 - Jun 22 Jun 19 - Aug 3 n/a
Chard n/a n/a Jun 19 - Sep 2
Collards Jun 4 - Jul 19 Jul 4 - Aug 18 n/a
Corn n/a n/a Jun 19 - Jul 4
Cucumbers n/a n/a Jun 19 - Jul 4
Eggplants Apr 23 - May 8 Jun 4 - Jun 19 n/a
Garlic n/a n/a Jul 19 - Sep 2
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins n/a n/a May 20 - Jun 19
Kale May 8 - Jun 22 Jun 19 - Aug 3 n/a
Kohlrabi May 8 - Jun 22 Jun 19 - Aug 3 n/a
Lettuce Jul 4 - Aug 3 Aug 3 - Sep 2 Aug 3 - Sep 2
Mustard n/a n/a Aug 3 - Sep 2
Okra n/a n/a May 20 - Jun 19
Onions n/a n/a Sep 2 - Sep 12
Parsley May 20 - Jul 4 Jul 4 - Aug 18 n/a
Peas (English) n/a n/a Jul 4 - Aug 3
Peas (Southern) n/a n/a May 20 - Jun 19
Peas (Sugar Snap) n/a n/a Jul 4 - Aug 3
Peppers Apr 28 - May 13 Jun 9 - Jun 24 n/a
Potatoes n/a n/a Jul 4 - Aug 3
Radishes n/a n/a Aug 3 - Sep 2
Spinach Jun 19 - Aug 3 Jul 19 - Sep 2 Jul 19 - Sep 2
Tomatoes Apr 28 - May 13 Jun 9 - Jun 24 n/a
Turnips n/a n/a Aug 18 - Sep 17
Watermelon n/a n/a May 20 - Jun 19

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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