When to plant vegetables along the Wasatch Front
Mar 7, 2025, 9:00 AM
Young lettuce plants wait to be planted by U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and local school children at the White House Kitchen Garden March 16, 2011 in Washington, DC. That was the third planting season of the garden which has been producing fresh fruit and vegetables to feed the Obama family and their guests, and for donating to Miriam's Kitchen, a food shelter in the DC area. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(Alex Wong/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY — With the weather slowly warming up along the Wasatch Front, many people are excited to start planting vegetables again. Timing is important because planting too early might not be very effective. So when exactly should you start?
“Even though temperatures are where we might be able to start planting cool-season crops, other things work into this that you need to look at, [including] the long-term weather forecast to make sure we’re not getting a blizzard coming in, making sure that predicted temperatures aren’t going to drop below the mid-20s—and if they do, you might need to protect some plants—and then gauging soil temperatures,” said KSL Greenhouse Host Taun Beddes.
The soil temperatures typically need to be at around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, which you can check with a kitchen thermometer. If the soil is still at around 35 degrees, it may need another week to warm up.
“I suspect with these sustained 50-degree temperatures that the soil will warm up and you’ll see germination,” Beddes said.
Suggested planting dates
When it comes to planting vegetables, there’s no such thing as the “best day” to plant. There is, however, a range of suggested dates you can use as a general reference.
In the list of suggested dates, there are four main groups: A, B, C and D. Each group is labeled based on the level of hardiness.
- Group A is for hardy crops, with the average planting date somewhere between March 1 and April 15.
- Group B is for semi-hardy crops, typically planted between March 20 and May 1.
- Group C is for tender crops, typically planted between May 5 and June 1.
- Group D is for crops that are extra tender, typically planted between May 20 and June 10.
“Take into consideration the weather,” Beddes said. “With some of these crops, especially with, like, radishes, you can plant once a week or every 10 days from March 1 to April 15 for a continuous harvest. And so there’s about between a four- and six-week period that these cool season crops can be planted.”
Why is weather important?
Beddes said it’s especially important to be prepared for extreme weather because it can harm the plants. To protect them, he recommended setting up some stakes and having some tarps ready to put over the plants.
“But even during the summer you might have to put up shade because … the flowering plants don’t produce vegetables at sustained temperatures above 90 to 92 [degrees]. And if we’re in the hundreds, that actually prevents flower development, it stunts growth, and it causes flower abortion in many plants. And so part of gardening is not just knowing when to plant, but being prepared for both [the] cold and heat.”
Read more from the KSL Greenhouse show:
- When’s the best time to prune shrubs and hedges?
- All about roses: Types, bloom times, and care tips
- Dormant sprays: What they do and when to apply them
KSL Greenhouse is live Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. You can also find more gardening info on our linktr.ee.
