When should we move our tender tomatoes and growing squash outdoors? This is the burning question in our house. When you’re living in a cooler and much wetter climate than most, when should you move your vegetable starts outside? How about when you live in a climate that’s just really cold until June? Or one that is hot, hot, hot come April? Here’s a quick guide to what you should be doing with your vegetable starts.
First, let’s talk a little bit about why you start vegetables indoors. The majority of our vegetables are not well-suited to the exact climates we live in. Yes, there are some local varieties that work better. However, if you live in North America, most of your vegetables come from Europe, South America, and Asia. Within those environments, there are quite diverse climates as well. Each vegetable grew up well-adapted to its home. We’ve taken Mediterranean rosemary, South American tomatoes, and Asian bok choy and we’ve made them live together in the same place. No wonder they’re confused. Since they’re confused, they need some help getting started.
We start vegetables indoors to provide them with a warm, moist environment that works well for them. Then we send them out into the big wide world of our garden to fend for themselves, poor little things!
You need to start vegetables indoors at different times.
Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce need to start 10 weeks before you transplant them.
Tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers need to start 7 weeks before you transplant them.
Cucumbers, squash, and watermelon need to start 4 weeks before you transplant them.
Vegetables also need a transition time. If you have a garage with a window, an enclosed and unheated patio, or deck, use this area as a place where your vegetables can get used to the new conditions outdoors. This is called hardening off. Do this for two weeks, moving the plants outdoors gradually for longer periods of time until your plants get used to the conditions outdoors, then move them into the garden.
So what does all of this mean for timing? You should place heat-loving starts into the garden after the danger of frost has passed. If you’re like me, you may want to hedge your bets a bit and leave another week or so of time after that, because weather can be unpredictable. To find the typical last frost dates in your area, look at this frost dates chart.
To determine when you’re going to get your plants started next year, work backwards from the last frost date and count the number of weeks that the plants need to stay indoors. Add two weeks for hardening off, and a week or so for good measure. That’s when you should start your seeds!