Almost Time for Spring Planting!

Spring planting time will be here before we know it.

In general, for most of our spring crops, we should wait to plant until after any danger of frost. According to Almanac.com, the website for The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the average last frost date for La Grange this year will be March 12. The researchers at Old Farmer’s Almanac compile the average last frost date based on historic climate data.

There can be quite a bit of variability in the average last frost date by traveling just a few miles. For the Schulenburg and Flatonia area, that date is March 10. For Smithville, the date is March 29.

Some crops, like okra, don’t like growing until it gets quite hot. If you plant okra seed in March, it might germinate, if you’re lucky, but the plants won’t begin to bear fruit until daytime temperatures reach the 80s.

Carrots, on the other hand, prefer cool temperatures. Carrots planted after March in this part of Texas might burn up in the heat of the summer before they produce a good root. You’re better off planting carrot seed right now.

Planting dates also depend on whether you’re planting seeds or transplants. Vegetables in the nightshade family like tomatoes, peppers and eggplants should be seeded right now in a greenhouse. These plants are slow to grow from seed. They need a month or two of growth in the warm environs of a greenhouse before they can be transplanted to the garden. Outside soil is too cold for these seeds to germinate right now. Even if they did germinate outside, we’ll probably get a frost that will kill the young seedlings.

But if we wait until it warms up outside to plant tomato, pepper or eggplant seeds, it’ll be too late in the season for the plants to mature produce a decent crop. For this reason, tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are almost always grown from greenhouse transplants in the United States.

Other crops grow better from seeds. Legumes like beans and peas are the prime examples. They germinate and grow quickly in warm soil. In addition, beans and peas do not like their roots to be disturbed.

Squash and zucchini are similar. You can often find squash and zucchini transplants for sale at greenhouses. But like beans, they germinate and grow quickly when the soil begins to warm in the spring. I prefer growing squash and zucchini from seed.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of interesting varieties of heirloom squash you can buy as seed. Greenhouses usually only offer one or two variety of plain yellow squash or green zucchini.

Spring is also a great time to grow delicious fresh greens – from salad greens like lettuce to cooking greens like Swiss chard and spinach. All of these can be grown from seed, although they are also available as transplants from many greenhouses.

Many of the brassica crops can be seeded and grown in the early spring in our part of Texas, even though they are traditionally classified as fall vegetables.

The chart below lists first and last spring planting dates for a variety of common vegetable crops in Texas Garden Zone III (equivalent to USDA Hardiness Zone 8). This zone covers all of Fayette County The dates are compiled by the Horticulture Department at Texas A&M University. The dates indicated are for planting seeds except where noted for transplants.

Vegetable Earliest Planting Date Latest Planting Date

Beans, snap bush March 5 May 1 Beans, snap pole March 5 April 15 Beans, Lima bush March 15 April 15 Beans, Lima pole March 15 April 15 Broccoli February 1 March 1 Cabbage February 1 March 1 Carrots January 15 March 1 Cauliflower (transplant) February 1 March 1 Chard, Swiss February 1 March 10 Collard Greens February 1 March 25 Corn, sweet February 25 May 1 Cucumber March 5 May 1 Eggplant (transplant) March 15 May 1 Kohlrabi February 1 March 1 Lettuce February 1 March 15 Muskmelon (cantaloupe) March 15 May 1 Mustard greens February 1 April 1 Onion (transplants) February 1 March 1 Parsley February 1 March 1 Peas, English February 1 March 1 Peas, southern March 25 May 20 Pepper (transplant) March 15 May 1 Sweet Potato (slips) April 10 May 15 Pumpkin April 1 April 20 Radish February 1 May 1 Spinach January 1 February 15 Squash March 5 May 1 Tomato (transplant) March 15 April 10 Turnip February 1 March 10 Watermelon March 15 May 1