Grow guide
What to plant each month in Southern California.
Twelve months of vegetables for the coast and inland valleys, from the San Diego County Master Gardener planting guide.
One page. Read it here, save the image to your phone, or print it for the fridge.
Southern California can grow food all year, but each crop has its window. These tiles follow the UC Master Gardeners of San Diego County planting guide for coastal and inland gardens. Its dates come from decades past and summers now run warmer, so treat each window as a guide that can shift by a few weeks.
- 1
January: peas and onions
- Plants: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower
- Seed: peas, carrots, beets, lettuce, spinach
- Medium-day bulb onions, coast and inland
- 2
February: last winter plants
- Last month for broccoli and cabbage plants
- Seed: peas, carrots, beets, chard, kale
- Seed potatoes: coast now, inland mid-month
- 3
March: coast warms up
- Coast: tomato plants; mid-month beans, squash
- Both: potatoes, peas, chard, leaf lettuce
- Inland: last month for carrots and spinach
- 4
April: summer crops open
- Plants: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant
- Seed: beans, corn, cucumbers, squash, melons
- Coast adds sweet potatoes; last month for kale
- 5
May: keep planting summer
- Tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, cucumbers
- Inland: sweet potato plants, May to June
- Coast: last beets, radishes, turnips
- 6
June: last call for melons
- Last month: melons, watermelon, okra, eggplant
- Inland: last tomato and pepper plants
- Coast: beans, corn, cucumbers keep going
- 7
July: final summer sowing
- Last month: corn, cucumbers, lima beans
- Coast: final tomato and pepper plants
- Snap beans and summer squash still go in
- 8
August: start the winter garden
- Seed: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower
- Seed potatoes from mid-August
- Last snap beans; coast, last summer squash
- 9
September: the big planting
- Seed: lettuce, carrots, beets, radishes, kale
- Plants: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower
- Coast: peas now; inland waits until January
- 10
October: bulb onions go in
- Short-day bulb onions; inland from mid-month
- Keep sowing lettuce, carrots, spinach
- Inland: last month for broccoli, cabbage seed
- 11
November: greens and roots
- Lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, carrots, beets
- Plants: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower
- Short-day onions; peas on the coast
- 12
December: winter keeps growing
- Last month for short-day bulb onions
- Coast: last broccoli and cabbage from seed
- Lettuce, spinach, radishes; peas on the coast
Cool crops in fall, warm crops in spring. Something goes in the ground every month of the year.
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