Regional guide
Southern Nevada Desert Vegetable Garden
UNR Extension Southern Nevada guide for Mojave heat, alkaline soils, raised beds, cool/warm crop windows, and hotbed starts.
Climate signals
- UNR Becoming a Desert Gardener frames Southern Nevada as the Mojave Desert, with four inches of average rainfall per year and humidity usually below 30%.
- The source says Southern Nevada temperature varies widely, with about ninety-seven days per year over 100 degrees F and average winter temperature in the low 30s.
- Wind gusts of 70 mph are possible, so young plants may need protection.
- Southern Nevada vegetable beds face high salt levels, high pH, and low amounts of organic matter, making vegetables easier in a raised bed with compost-amended soil.
- Cool season vegetables grow in the cool part of the year; warm season vegetables grow in the warm but not the hottest part of the year.
- All plants, cool or warm season, shut down most metabolism when temperature is over 95F and will not produce leaves, roots, flowers, or fruits.
Planning notes
- Although Southern Nevada is a desert, spring is often too cool for tender seedlings to get established outdoors before summer temperatures rise, so indoor starts help warm season vegetables such as tomato, eggplant, watermelon, and pepper.
- The Southern Nevada table marks celery, eggplant, pepper, and tomato with a hotbed 8 weeks ahead of the listed date warning.
- The table note says Early August means the second week of August.
- Cool-season rows include artichoke Early February through late March; beets Early February through late March and early August through early October; broccoli Early through late February and early August through early October; Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower Early through late February and early August through early October; Swiss chard Early February through Late March and early August through early October; collards Late February through late March and early August through early October; kale and kohlrabi Early February through mid-March and early August through early October; leaf lettuce Early through late February and mid-August through late September; mustard Early February through mid-March and early September through late October; green onions Early February through mid-March and early August through early October; parsley Early February through late March and early August through early October; parsnips Early February through late March and mid-August through early October; peas Early February through mid-March and early September through early October; radish Early February through late April and mid-August through early October; rutabaga Early February through mid-March and mid-August through early October; spinach Early February through late March and early September through early October; and turnips Early February through mid-March and mid-August through early October.
- Warm-season rows include bush beans Mid-March through mid-April and mid-June through mid-August; sweet corn Mid-March through late April and mid-June through mid-August; cucumber Mid-March through mid-August; eggplant Mid-March through mid-May; melon and cantaloupe Mid-March through late June; okra Early April through late June; pepper Mid-March through early May; pumpkin Mid-March through late June; winter squash Mid-March through late June; tomato Mid-March through late May; and watermelon Mid-March through late June.
- Treat this older SP-01-15 publication as a University of Nevada Cooperative Extension baseline and verify current local weather, soil, and water conditions before planting.
- Use these priority catalog links as crop-row examples only, not UNR 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
- Tall Utah Celery Vegetable · Cool · 110 days
- Bright Lights Swiss Chard Vegetable · Shoulder · 55 days
- Georgia Southern Collards Vegetable · Cool · 65 days
- Golden Bantam Sweet Corn Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
- Marketmore 76 Cucumber Vegetable · Warm · 58 days
- Black Beauty Eggplant Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
- Lacinato Kale Vegetable · Cool · 60 days
- Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
- Hale's Best Jumbo Melon Vegetable · Warm · 85 days
- Southern Giant Curled Mustard Vegetable · Cool · 45 days
- Clemson Spineless Okra Vegetable · Warm · 56 days
- Evergreen Bunching Onion Vegetable · Shoulder · 65 days
- Italian Flat Leaf Parsley Herb · Shoulder · 75 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
- 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
- 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.