The guide says warm-season vegetables will not tolerate any frost and may be severely damaged by prolonged temperatures as much as 15 degrees above freezing.
Regional guide
Tennessee Warm-Season Vegetable Garden
A UT Extension guide for Tennessee warm-season vegetable timing, regional timing adjustments, spacing, and harvest planning.
Regional timing
Current regional planting plan
A UT Extension guide for Tennessee warm-season vegetable timing, regional timing adjustments, spacing, and harvest planning.
Source-backed timing
UT Extension Guide to Warm-Season Garden Vegetables
Tennessee Warm Season
5 climate signals
Source
source cues
Local
conditions
- UT Extension SP291-P says warm-season vegetables require warm soil and air temperatures to germinate, grow, and mature properly.
- The guide says warm-season vegetables will not tolerate any frost and may be severely damaged by prolonged temperatures as much as 15 degrees above freezing.
- Warm-season vegetables are generally planted after danger of frost in spring, grown through summer heat, and must be planted no later than early July for most crops.
- Catalog priority
- 6 priority crops 6 catalog examples
- Climate checks
- 5 climate signals 10 planning notes
- Timing basis
- Use regional source signals source guidance first
Provider Bush Bean, Black Beauty Eggplant, Clemson Spineless Okra, California Wonder Pepper
Beans, Bush Snap include Provider in the variety list; the row uses Apr.10 to June 20, 1/4 lb. seed per 100-foot row, 24 to 36 inches between rows, 3 to 4 inches between plants, and 52 to 60 days to first harvest.
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.
Tennessee Cool Season
UT Extension spring cool-season guide for Tennessee planting intervals, regional timing shifts, seed depth, hardening, and source-row examples.
Climate signals
- UT Extension SP291-P says warm-season vegetables require warm soil and air temperatures to germinate, grow, and mature properly.
- The guide says warm-season vegetables will not tolerate any frost and may be severely damaged by prolonged temperatures as much as 15 degrees above freezing.
- Warm-season vegetables are generally planted after danger of frost in spring, grown through summer heat, and must be planted no later than early July for most crops.
- Plant warm-season vegetables near the early end of the recommended planting interval in West Tennessee, later in Middle and East Tennessee, and near the very end at high elevations.
- The table is for home gardeners; commercial growers are told to consult commercial variety and planting-date literature.
Planning notes
- The UT Extension table pairs each crop with varieties, planting interval, seed or plants per 100-foot row, row spacing, plant spacing, days to first harvest, harvest-season length, and yield per 100-foot row.
- Beans, Bush Snap include Provider in the variety list; the row uses Apr.10 to June 20, 1/4 lb. seed per 100-foot row, 24 to 36 inches between rows, 3 to 4 inches between plants, and 52 to 60 days to first harvest.
- Eggplant includes Black Beauty in the variety list; the row uses May planting, 50 plants per 100-foot row, 36 inches between rows, 24 inches between plants, and 65 to 80 days to first harvest.
- Okra includes Clemson Spineless in the variety list; the row uses May 5 to May 20, 1 ounce seed per 100-foot row, 36 inches between rows, 6 to 12 inches between plants, and 50 to 60 days to first harvest.
- Pepper, Sweet includes California Wonder in the variety list; the row uses May or June, 60 plants per 100-foot row, 36 inches between rows, 18 to 24 inches between plants, and 55 to 80 days to first harvest.
- Pumpkins include Sugar or Pie in the variety list; the row uses May planting, 1 ounce seed per 100-foot row, 120 to 144 inches between rows, 48 inches between plants, and 100 to 120 days to first harvest.
- Squash, Winter includes butternut types and acorn types in the variety list; the row uses May or June, 1 ounce seed per 100-foot row, 72 to 96 inches between rows, 24 to 36 inches between plants, and 90 to 110 days to first harvest.
- Beans and corn are sensitive to cool soils, where seed tends to rot rather than germinate if soils are cool and wet.
- Okra, peppers and eggplant require even warmer soils, about 70 degrees, to germinate quickly.
- Use exact catalog matches where the UT Extension table names the variety, and use the pumpkin and winter squash entries only as type matches; other warm-season catalog entries should keep relying on their own seed-entry sources.
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
- Black Beauty Eggplant Vegetable · Warm · 80 days
- Clemson Spineless Okra Vegetable · Warm · 56 days
- California Wonder Pepper Vegetable · Warm · 72 days
- Small Sugar Pumpkin Vegetable · Warm · 100 days
- Waltham Butternut Squash Vegetable · Warm · 95 days
Related regional guides
- Tennessee Spring Cool-Season Vegetable Garden UT Extension spring cool-season guide for Tennessee planting intervals, regional timing shifts, seed depth, hardening, and source-row examples.