Regional guide

Long Island Vegetable Planting Guide

A CCE Suffolk Long Island vegetable timing guide for outdoor seeding, indoor starts, transplant windows, wet-soil caution, and spacing caveats.

Regional timing

Current regional planting plan

Source-backed timing CCE Suffolk Vegetable Planting Times Guidelines for Long Island

Long Island 158 frost-free days

May 15 last frost spring release Oct 20 first frost fall limit

Vegetable Planting Times - Guidelines for Long Island covers planting vegetable seeds outdoors, seeds indoors for starting transplants, and transplants outdoors on Long Island.
The source says the table is a guideline, not exact planting dates, and should be used for when gardeners may want to consider planting.
Weather conditions will vary on Long Island, and in any given year the spring growing season may be ahead or behind schedule for a week or two or more.

Catalog priority: 18 priority crops
Climate checks: 5 climate signals
Timing basis: Using NYC Area dates

Source-backed timing May 15 last frost and October 20 first frost for the New York City area guide.

Outlying and cooler sites can run later in spring; use this as a city-area planning baseline.

Crop priority Provider Bush Bean leads the catalog examples

Provider Bush Bean, Detroit Dark Red Beet, Waltham 29 Broccoli, Golden Acre Cabbage

Next local check The source says there is considerable room for adjustment depending on garden size, gardening method, individual variety characteristics, and the methods used to cultivate soil between plants and rows.

Use seed package labels for seed spacing and plant thinning details, and pair this guide with the leaflet titled Using Average Freeze Dates for Starting Vegetable Seeds when needed.

Calendar Convert regional timing into dated sowing, transplant, and harvest jobs. Frost dates Keep hardiness zone context separate from local first and last frost dates. All regions Compare this guide with the broader regional atlas. Upstate New York Cornell planting-date guide for upstate New York vegetable planning using May 20 spring frost, October 1 fall frost, crop groups, and rotation families.

Climate signals

Vegetable Planting Times - Guidelines for Long Island covers planting vegetable seeds outdoors, seeds indoors for starting transplants, and transplants outdoors on Long Island.
The source says the table is a guideline, not exact planting dates, and should be used for when gardeners may want to consider planting.
Weather conditions will vary on Long Island, and in any given year the spring growing season may be ahead or behind schedule for a week or two or more.
Wet soil conditions are another spring limiting factor; turning soil under or rototilling when soil is wet can damage the soil structure.
Working wet soil can cause a hard, crusty layer and hard clods or balls that interfere with seeding and good root development.

Planning notes

The source says there is considerable room for adjustment depending on garden size, gardening method, individual variety characteristics, and the methods used to cultivate soil between plants and rows.
Use seed package labels for seed spacing and plant thinning details, and pair this guide with the leaflet titled Using Average Freeze Dates for Starting Vegetable Seeds when needed.
Beans are listed for outdoor seeding from Late May to early June, with continued planting up to mid July.
Beets are listed for outdoor seeding in Late April.
Broccoli is listed for indoor seeding in March, outdoor seeding from Mid April to late July, and plants outdoors from Early April through early September.
Cabbage is listed with Mid April outdoor seed timing and June to early July plant timing.
Carrots are listed for outdoor seeding in Early April.
Cauliflower is listed for indoor seeding in March, outdoor seeding in June, and plants outdoors in April and July.
Sweet corn is listed for outdoor seeding from Mid April to July.
Cucumber is listed for outdoor seeding from Late May to late June.
Eggplant is listed for indoor seeding in Early to mid April and plants outdoors from Late May to early June.
Lettuce is listed from April to early September, depending on type.
Muskmelon is listed for indoor seeding in Early to mid May, with outdoor seed and plant windows from Late May to early June.
Peas are listed for outdoor seeding from Late March to Late May.
Peppers are listed for indoor seeding in Early to mid April and plants outdoors from Late May to early June.
Pumpkin and squash are listed as a combined row for outdoor seeding from Late May to late June; this guide only links the catalog pumpkin example because the source does not split summer and winter squash.
Radishes are listed for outdoor seeding from April through August.
Spinach is listed for Early April-May in spring and August for fall.
Tomatoes are listed for indoor seeding in Early to mid April and plants outdoors from Late May to early June.
Watermelon is listed for indoor seeding from Late April to early May and outdoor seed or plant timing from Late May to early June.
Use these priority catalog links as crop-row examples, not CCE cultivar recommendations.

Catalog crop examples

These catalog entries match crops covered by the regional timing source; variety-specific details remain tied to each seed entry's own source.

Provider Bush Bean Vegetable · Warm · 50 days
Detroit Dark Red Beet Vegetable · Cool · 58 days
Waltham 29 Broccoli Vegetable · Cool · 74 days
Golden Acre Cabbage Vegetable · Cool · 64 days
Danvers 126 Carrot Vegetable · Shoulder · 70 days
Snowball Y Cauliflower Vegetable · Cool · 70 days
Golden Bantam Sweet Corn Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
Marketmore 76 Cucumber Vegetable · Warm · 58 days
Black Beauty Eggplant Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
Hale's Best Jumbo Melon Vegetable · Warm · 85 days
Sugar Snap Pea Vegetable · Cool · 62 days
California Wonder Pepper Vegetable · Warm · 72 days
Small Sugar Pumpkin Vegetable · Warm · 100 days
French Breakfast Radish Vegetable · Cool · 28 days
Bloomsdale Spinach Vegetable · Cool · 42 days
Roma Tomato Vegetable · Warm · 76 days
Sugar Baby Watermelon Vegetable · Warm · 80 days

Related regional guides

Upstate New York Frost-Window Vegetable Garden Cornell planting-date guide for upstate New York vegetable planning using May 20 spring frost, October 1 fall frost, crop groups, and rotation families.
New York City Area Vegetable Planting Guide Cornell Harvest NY guide for NYC-area spring, summer, and fall vegetable windows, soil dry-out timing, frost dates, and S/T crop rows.

Dated sowing answers, where the data exists

Five regions on this site have a dated "what can I still sow today" page, built from the windows their state extension service publishes: Texas, North Florida, Central Maryland, New York City and York County, PA. Long Island is not one of them, and nothing on those pages applies here.

Long Island has no dated sowing page yet: see how Texas, North Florida, Central Maryland, New York City and York County, PA get one What a covered region page contains, which five regions have one, and the extension sources behind them.

Source: CCE Suffolk Vegetable Planting Times Guidelines for Long Island