Interactive Vegetable Planting Calendar: Dates by Zone
Mat Caissy
Open the tool: Vegetable Planting Calendar. For the full guide, read When to Plant Vegetables: A Planting Calendar for Every USDA Zone.
New to planting by frost date? Read the full guide: When to Plant Vegetables: A Planting Calendar for Every USDA Zone. This calendar turns your last frost date into sowing, transplanting, and harvest dates for one vegetable at a time.
Pick your zone, enter your last spring frost date, and choose a vegetable. You get indoor sowing, direct sowing, transplanting, and an approximate harvest window. It is free, it needs no account, and it saves nothing. Use your local frost date, not just your zone, because frost dates can vary by weeks inside one zone.
How to use this tool
Primary action: choose Update calendar.
Result views: Crop table · Timeline · Year grid · Windows.
- Choose your USDA zone. The zone helps with hardiness, but your frost date drives the timing.
- Enter your last spring frost date. If you do not know it, check your local extension office or a local frost date lookup before you use these dates.
- Choose one vegetable, then read the sowing and transplanting dates in order.
- Keep the dates in your garden notes, and check soil temperature before direct sowing warm season crops.
- Run it again for each vegetable you plan to grow, because start times differ by crop.
What your result means
Indoor sowing means start seeds inside on that date, so seedlings are ready by transplanting time. Direct sow means sow seeds outdoors on that date. Transplanting means move indoor seedlings outdoors, after hardening off, on that date. The harvest date is approximate, because variety, weather, and soil change growth speed. For the full table by crop and the cool season versus warm season rules, see When to Plant Vegetables: A Planting Calendar for Every USDA Zone.
If you have no frost, do not use a frost date you guessed. Use soil temperature and heat instead: plant warm season crops when soil is warm enough, usually 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and plant cool season crops in your cool season.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an account?
No. This calendar is free and needs no sign-up.
Is my data saved?
No. Your zone, frost date, and crop are not saved.
Is my USDA zone the same as my last frost date?
No. A USDA zone is based on average annual extreme minimum winter temperature. Your last frost date depends on local spring weather, elevation, and microclimate, and it can vary by weeks inside one zone.
What if a late frost is forecast after I transplant?
Cover tender transplants in the evening and remove the cover in the morning. If you have not transplanted yet, hold transplants indoors for a few more days rather than planting into a forecast frost.
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