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NOTE: THESE DATES DON’T CORRELATE WITH MINE EXACTLY. THIS IS A REFERENCE PAGE FOR FURTHER ADJUSTMENTS TO MY OWN. ACTUAL PLANT DATES ARE SHOWN ELSEWHERE ON SITE. DOUBLE CHECK THESE TABLES AND REDO THE PLANTING DATES TABLES.

SPRING PLANTING DATES | SPRING TEMPERATURES

FALL PLANTING DATES | FALL TEMPERATURES

Spring – Athens Planting Strategy

https://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-calendar/GA/Athens

Almanac Planting Dates Athens

Cole crops like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage can be direct seeded into your garden around February 11, assuming the ground can be worked, but it’s better to start them indoors around January 14 and then transplant them into the garden around March 4. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Plant onion starts and potatoes around January 24. Sow the seeds of peas (sugar snap and english) at the same time. If the ground is still frozen, then plant these as soon as the ground thaws.

Do you want to grow tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants? Start these indoors around January 14. Then, around March 20 you should start watching the weather forecast and, as soon as no frost is forecast, go ahead and transplant those into the ground.

Now, for all the summer vegetables like beans, cowpeas, corn, squashes, pumpkins, cucumbers, watermelons, gourds and sunflowers, you should plant those seeds directly into the ground around March 24, or if your soil is still very cold, once the soil is near 60° F in temperature.Okay, now here are the cold, hard numbers, along with specific plants:

https://garden.org/apps/calendar/?q=Athens+Ben+Epps+Ap%2C+GA

Spring Crop Schedule Athens

CropSow seeds indoorsTransplant seedlings into the gardenDirect sow seeds
Asparagusn/aFeb 8 – Feb 23n/a
Beansn/an/aMar 24 – Apr 21
Beetsn/an/aJan 28 – Feb 11
BroccoliJan 14 – Jan 28Feb 25 – Mar 10n/a
Brussel SproutsJan 14 – Jan 28Feb 25 – Mar 10n/a
CabbageJan 14 – Jan 28Feb 25 – Mar 10n/a
Cantaloupen/an/aMar 10 – Mar 24
Carrotsn/an/aFeb 11 – Mar 10
CauliflowerJan 14 – Jan 28Feb 25 – Mar 10n/a
Chardn/an/aFeb 11 – Feb 25
CollardsJan 14 – Jan 28Feb 25 – Mar 10n/a
Cornn/an/aMar 24 – Apr 7
Cucumbersn/an/aMar 24 – Apr 7
EggplantsJan 14 – Jan 28Mar 24 – Apr 7n/a
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkinsn/an/aMar 24 – Apr 7
KaleJan 14 – Jan 28Feb 25 – Mar 10n/a
KohlrabiJan 14 – Jan 28Feb 25 – Mar 10n/a
LettuceJan 14 – Jan 28Feb 11 – Mar 10Feb 11 – Mar 10
MustardJan 14 – Jan 28Feb 25 – Mar 10n/a
Okran/an/aMar 24 – Apr 7
OnionsJan 7 – Jan 14Jan 24 – Feb 23n/a
Peas (English)n/an/aJan 24 – Feb 23
Peas (Southern)n/an/aMar 24 – Apr 21
Peas (Sugar Snap)n/an/aJan 24 – Feb 23
PeppersJan 14 – Jan 28Mar 24 – Apr 7n/a
Potatoesn/an/aJan 24 – Feb 23
Radishesn/an/aFeb 8 – Apr 7
SpinachJan 14 – Jan 28Feb 25 – Mar 10Feb 8 – Mar 10
Sweet Potatoesn/aMar 24 – Apr 14n/a
TomatoesJan 14 – Jan 28Mar 24 – Apr 7n/a
Watermelonn/an/aMar 24 – Apr 7

Spring Temperatures – Athens

Average Soil Temperatures for Current Date Athens

Soil temperatures need to be 60-65 degrees F and rising at the 4 inch soil depth before you plant your summer crops.

Get current soil temps here: https://www.greencastonline.com/tools/soil-temperature
Another soil temp resource: http://www.georgiaweather.net/?content=tr&variable=XS

If you install a transplant too early the roots won’t grow and the plant will just be sitting in the soil.  If we have a large amount of rain, which seems to be the norm this year, your new plant will just be sitting in wet soil.  This could mean early disease issues.

Spring – Average Air Temperatures for Athens

As the growing season approaches, the days get longer, the weather begins to warm up, and the nights start being less cold. You’re still getting frost, but the chance of nightly frosts gets less and less with each passing day. Eventually, the frost stops, and this is when your tender plants are fully safe. So, how do you plan for this? The probabilities on this page help you assess your risk of frost on any given day.

What’s a safe temperature for tender plants? When the nightly temperature falls, frost can form, even above 32°, because the air is colder high above the ground and the frost can form up there and then fall down onto your garden and do some damage, even if it’s 36° on the ground. So many factors come into play, including wind, concrete, houses, trees and other structures, etc etc etc. Because of all this, you might want to consider 36° as “the danger zone”.

In your average springtime, you have a 90% chance that there will be no 36° nights by April 24. In other words, you can pretty much count on being safe from frost by that day. But we want to get those tomatoes in the ground as soon as possible, right? We see that there’s still an 80% chance of 36° on March 29, so we don’t dare plant that early. We wait a few days and by April 8 we are at the 50/50 point. At this point, we are close and we can start watching the weather forecast. If the upcoming week’s forecast doesn’t show below 40°, then it’s probably okay to risk planting out your plants. If conditions change and a surprise frost does threaten, there’s always things you can do to protect plants from frost.

https://weatherspark.com/y/16237/Average-Weather-in-Athens-Georgia-United-States-Year-Round

Spring Temperature Table – Athens

Temperature10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
Last 16°Feb 20Feb 11Feb 3Jan 27Jan 20Jan 10———
Last 20°Mar 7Feb 25Feb 19Feb 13Feb 8Feb 2Jan 27Jan 20Jan 9
Last 24°Mar 12Mar 4Feb 26Feb 22Feb 17Feb 13Feb 8Feb 2Jan 26
Last 28°Mar 27Mar 21Mar 16Mar 12Mar 9Mar 5Mar 1Feb 25Feb 18
Last 32°Apr 8Apr 3Mar 30Mar 27Mar 24Mar 21Mar 18Mar 14Mar 9
Last 36°Apr 24Apr 18Apr 15Apr 11Apr 8Apr 5Apr 2Mar 29Mar 24

Fall – Athens Planting Strategy

Gardening in the fall can be much more challenging than spring planting, because you are in a race to get your crops mature and harvested before the winter frosts begin, around November 7. This means you need to consider how much time each variety needs between planting and picking. Those numbers vary widely between different varieties of the same kinds of plants! Usually the “Days to Harvest” are present on the seed packet.

Most tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, for example, require around 100 days to harvest, therefore you’d want to transplant those into the ground around July 30. Anyway, it’s important to remember that the numbers in this fall planting guide are only a starting point for you! Good luck and good gardening to you.

Fall is the time to plant garlic. Around September 23, take your cloves apart and plant the toes about 3 to 4 inches deep. This may not be accurate! Garlic dates vary wildly around the country. The way to be sure is to use a soil thermometer. When the soil temperature is 60° at a depth of 4 inches, then plant your garlic.

Cole crops like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage can be direct seeded into your garden around August 29, but because of the heat during that time of year, it’s better to start them indoors around July 10 and then transplant them into the garden around August 19. Do the same with lettuce and spinach.

Sow peas directly around August 24.

Now, for all the usual hot weather veggies like beans, cowpeas, corn, squashes, pumpkins, cucumbers, watermelons, gourds and sunflowers, you should plant those seeds directly into the ground around July 25.Okay, now here are the cold, hard numbers, along with specific plants:

Fall Crop Schedule Athens

CropSow seeds indoorsTransplant seedlings into the gardenDirect sow seeds
Beansn/an/aJul 25 – Aug 24
Beetsn/an/aAug 24 – Oct 8
BroccoliJun 13 – Jul 28Jul 25 – Sep 8n/a
Brussel SproutsJun 13 – Jul 28Jul 25 – Sep 8n/a
CabbageJun 13 – Jul 28Jul 25 – Sep 8n/a
Cantaloupen/an/aJul 10 – Jul 25
Carrotsn/an/aAug 9 – Oct 8
CauliflowerJun 13 – Jul 28Jul 25 – Sep 8n/a
Chardn/an/aJul 25 – Oct 8
CollardsJul 10 – Aug 24Aug 9 – Sep 23n/a
Cornn/an/aJul 25 – Aug 9
Cucumbersn/an/aJul 25 – Aug 9
EggplantsMay 29 – Jun 13Jul 10 – Jul 25n/a
Garlicn/an/aAug 24 – Oct 8
Gourds, Squash and Pumpkinsn/an/aJun 25 – Jul 25
KaleJun 13 – Jul 28Jul 25 – Sep 8n/a
KohlrabiJun 13 – Jul 28Jul 25 – Sep 8n/a
LettuceAug 9 – Sep 8Sep 8 – Oct 8Sep 8 – Oct 8
Mustardn/an/aSep 8 – Oct 8
Okran/an/aJun 25 – Jul 25
Onionsn/an/aOct 8 – Oct 18
ParsleyJun 25 – Aug 9Aug 9 – Sep 23n/a
Peas (English)n/an/aAug 9 – Sep 8
Peas (Southern)n/an/aJun 25 – Jul 25
Peas (Sugar Snap)n/an/aAug 9 – Sep 8
PeppersJun 3 – Jun 18Jul 15 – Jul 30n/a
Potatoesn/an/aAug 9 – Sep 8
Radishesn/an/aSep 8 – Oct 8
SpinachJul 25 – Sep 8Aug 24 – Oct 8Aug 24 – Oct 8
TomatoesJun 3 – Jun 18Jul 15 – Jul 30n/a
Turnipsn/an/aSep 23 – Oct 23
Watermelonn/an/aJun 25 – Jul 25

Fall Temperatures – Athens

Average Soil Temperatures for Current Date Athens

Get current soil temps here: https://www.greencastonline.com/tools/soil-temperature
Another soil temp resource: http://www.georgiaweather.net/?content=tr&variable=XS

Fall – Average Air Temperatures for Athens

https://garden.org/apps/frost-dates/Athens%2C+Georgia/

As your growing season comes to an end, the nightly temperatures for Athens, Georgia start to go down, and therefore every day that goes by increases the chance that you’ll get frost. Your risk of frost really begins around October 20, and by November 18 you’re almost certain to have received at least one frost event.

The charts on this page show the probabilities of receiving a certain temperature on a certain day. Some examples that might help:

  1. You have a small 20% chance of getting 32° by October 26.
  2. There is a 50% chance of being hit by a 32° frost starting around November 7
  3. You have a 80% chance of seeing 32° by November 18
  4. Said another way, you have a 1 in 5 chance at making it to that day without a 32° night.

Fall Temperature Table – Athens

Temperature10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
First 16°Dec 18Dec 26Jan 2Jan 8Jan 15Jan 24———
First 20°Dec 4Dec 13Dec 19Dec 24Dec 29Jan 3Jan 8Jan 15Jan 25
First 24°Nov 27Dec 5Dec 11Dec 16Dec 20Dec 25Dec 30Jan 5Jan 13
First 28°Nov 10Nov 15Nov 19Nov 23Nov 26Nov 29Dec 3Dec 7Dec 12
First 32°Oct 20Oct 26Oct 30Nov 3Nov 7Nov 10Nov 14Nov 18Nov 24
First 36°Oct 14Oct 20Oct 24Oct 28Oct 31Nov 3Nov 7Nov 11Nov 17