Your Year-Round Cheat Sheet to Seed Starting in the South

Learn which annuals, perennials, and veggies to plant every month for perfect timing and strong seedlings

Seed catalogue time of year is our favorite time of year . When it ’s cold and showery , nothing seems expert than brewing a pot of hot Camellia sinensis and sitting down to retrospect seed order forms . We prefer regulate from good sure-enough - fashioned ejaculate catalogue . Ordering online feels cold and too effective , leading to regulate way too many things ! Either means , once all those seeded player arrive , it ’s time to plant them .

Some general guidelines lead to success, but you may need to experiment yourself

Making notes on a calendar can be the best way to mastermind yourself . These notes do n’t have to be extensive . write something like “ beans ” on April 3 can be enough of a reminder . Some seed packets have helpful planting information for the South and some do n’t . aboveboard , sometimes the best thing is to experiment . For example , we have found that the good time for us to plant gullible beans in central Alabama is actually the get-go of August rather than in late March as traditional wisdom dictates . Here in our part of the world , we direct for planting most vegetables for the spring and summer garden on Good Friday . That ’s one broadly safe bet . For more general guidelines , we ’ve break down what seed you could require to plant month - by - month for succeeder in the South .

January

January in the South is for seeding annual wild flower seeds such as larkspur ( Consolida ajacis ) , corn poppy ( genus Papaver rhoeas ) , and cornflowers ( Centaurea cyanus ) . These seeds germinate in the winter to get a head start . They are normally some of the early things to blossom . mellifluous peas ( Lathyrus odoratus ) also appreciate an early beginning . It is best to contrive on protect them , though , if we get a grueling freeze . January is also the right clock time to begin chitting seed potato ( even though technically they are n’t seeds ) . If you are a rooter of broad edible bean , sow those in January too . They are interchangeable to sweet peas and may need occasional frost protection . Do n’t be afraid to arrange more seminal fluid in January as well .

February

February is a great clock time to get going tomatoes , peppers , and eggplants indoors . attempt to put them in a greenhouse or sunny speckle . Choose your outside planting particular date and take off six weeks . Potato “ seeds ” should also be transplant in the ground at this meter . Broccoli , simoleons , and lucre can be seeded in February as well . They need a fiddling protection on supernumerary cold nights , but look any longer means more clams inchworm than green shekels when harvest meter come . Lettuce exploit good if started in February and seeded every two weeks until early April . Asparagus and Allium cepa incandescent lamp should also be planted now .

March

March is for seeding spinach plant , carrot , and beetroot . Toward the end of the calendar month and into other April , the real work begins . That ’s quality clock time for bean , squelch , corn whiskey , cucumbers , and melon vine . Be fain for the casual late hoar . Frost fabric or tents made of five to six sheet of newspaper are usually sufficient protection .

April

other April is for whatever did n’t get seeded in March . It ’s also clip to institute okra , watermelons , and your transplant of tomatoes , peppers , and garden egg . Zinnias ( Zinniaspp . and cvs . , annual ) and cosmos ( Cosmosspp . and cvs . , one-year ) can be tossed out into the garden now as well .

May–August

In May through August , it can be a flock of fun to farm tropic seeds indoors in the air conditioning . Just imagine standing next to a banana tree tree or other interesting tropic and thinking , “ I grow that from seed ! ” Zinnias , cosmos , helianthus ( Helianthus annuus ) and other fast - farm heating - screw yearbook can be seeded throughout the summertime as well .

August

Zinnias are particularly easy to grow from semen , taking only four to five weeks to start flowering , so they can be embed quite late into August and still have time to flower . I find engraft gullible noodle in August beneficial as well . They are quick to commence harvesting from late September into October . August is also the right prison term to seed brussels sprouts . Beware of the ridiculous number of insects that like them , and be prepared to apply a micromesh fabric or to spray them regularly .

October

In October , collard , broccoli , kale , cabbage , lettuce , and other cool - season crops can be planted . The cat are still plentiful at this time , so hope for cool conditions and be prepared with the Bt . Now is also the time to plant garlic cloves .

December

In December , the cycle starts all over again and wild flower seeding get down . Purple coneflowers ( Echinacea purpurea , Zones 3–9 ) , ratibida ( Ratibidaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , black - eyed Susans ( Rudbeckiaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–11 ) , and many of other aboriginal wild flower perennials can be seeded then .

For resource to help you protect your seedling from frost during the moth-eaten months of the yr , read on here :

And for come - starting tip and technique , record on here .

— Jason and Shelley Powell own and manage Petals from the past tense , a garden center in Jemison , Alabama .

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