Regional guide

Northern Nevada Three-Season Vegetable Garden

A UNR Extension guide for northern Nevada's spring, summer, and fall vegetable windows, frost dates, microclimates, and succession rows.

Climate signals

• UNR Extension says northern Nevada can grow vegetables in three seasons: early spring, summer, and early fall.
• Use the average last spring frost of May 15 and the earliest fall frost of Sept. 15 as planning examples, while treating 90 days frost-free as the safer baseline.
• The Reno area has many microclimates, so planting dates may differ by several days to two weeks.
• UNR notes the north valleys average 5 to 10 degrees F colder than Reno, so planting should be delayed by 1 to 2 weeks there.

Planning notes

• St. Patrick's Day is the traditional start for cool-season peas and spinach in northern Nevada.
• Direct-seed other cool-season crops such as lettuce, Swiss chard, beets, and carrots until the end of May.
• Set warm-season transplants such as tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, watermelon, and squash after the last frost in May to early June.
• Start a second season of cool-season vegetables in August for autumn harvest and possible protected overwintering.
• Plant very hardy crops as soon as the soil can be worked; plant semi-hardy crops 2 to 4 weeks before the May 15 average last killing frost.
• Do not push heat-sensitive cole crops such as broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage after mid-May.
• Use row covers, hotcaps, or similar protection if frost-tender crops go out before danger of frost is past.
• Use succession planting for beans, carrots, broccoli, endive, lettuce, radishes, cabbage, turnips, corn, and beets.

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
• Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts Vegetable · Cool · 100 days
• Golden Acre Cabbage Vegetable · Cool · 64 days
• Danvers 126 Carrot Vegetable · Shoulder · 70 days
• Snowball Y Cauliflower Vegetable · Cool · 70 days
• Bright Lights Swiss Chard Vegetable · Shoulder · 55 days
• Golden Bantam Sweet Corn Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Black Beauty Eggplant Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
• Green Curled Endive Vegetable · Cool · 85 days
• Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
• Sugar Snap Pea Vegetable · Cool · 62 days
• California Wonder Pepper Vegetable · Warm · 72 days
• French Breakfast Radish Vegetable · Cool · 28 days
• Bloomsdale Spinach Vegetable · Cool · 42 days
• Waltham Butternut Squash Vegetable · Warm · 95 days
• Roma Tomato Vegetable · Warm · 76 days
• Purple Top White Globe Turnip Vegetable · Cool · 55 days
• Sugar Baby Watermelon Vegetable · Warm · 80 days

Related regional guides

• Southern Nevada Desert Vegetable Garden UNR Extension Southern Nevada guide for Mojave heat, alkaline soils, raised beds, cool/warm crop windows, and hotbed starts.

Source: UNR Extension getting started with a vegetable garden