Zone 5 Planting Schedule and When to Start Seeds Indoors
Gardening,  Homesteading

Basic Zone 5 Planting Schedule (Plus When to Start Seeds Indoors in Zone 5)

We start everything from seed here in our zone 5 gardens. This is our zone 5 planting schedule and when to start seeds indoors in zone 5!

While many vegetable gardeners go by USDA growing zones, they are really intended more for perennial plants. That’s because the gardening zones are determined by average lowest temperature in the winter, which doesn’t really affect annual vegetable gardens. It still does give you an idea of the summer growing season, though, and can be a great place to start if you don’t know when to plant your garden.

Disclaimer: this page contains affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

 

Figuring Out Your Last Frost Date

Our average last frost in the spring is June 5 and our average first frost of fall is in early September. That gives us 95 days between frosts, on average, not a lot to work with! If your average last frost is different than ours, you can adjust your planting dates by the same number of days. For example, if your average frost is May 20, you can plant things about 2 weeks earlier than I do.

If you are new to gardening, you might be able to find your city’s average frost dates online with a quick search. The Farmers Almanac has a frost date search box. If not, check with your local extension office and also ask other gardeners in your neighborhood.

When figuring out a zone 5 planting schedule, it’s important to note that each neighborhood or property is it’s own little micro-climate. For example, in my area the average last frost is supposed to be May 25, and average first frost September 15, for a total growing season of 111 days. But on my actual property, the growing season has averaged just 95 days since I’ve lived here, and last year was only 80 days!

In summary, use this zone 5 planting schedule as a guide, but the better you get to know your area and your property, the more you can fine tune it!

Keeping notes will help you figure out the best time for you to start seeds in future years. You can make adjustments each year to fine tune your gardening. I’ve found a garden journal to be very helpful!

 

 

When to Start Seeds Indoors in Zone 5

starting seeds indoors in zone 5

 

Since our growing season is so short, we usually give seedlings a little extra time than the standard listed on seed packets. Although younger plants transplant better, time is of the essence in our short growing season. We’ve found that we get better harvests on many crops by starting them earlier.

You can find more info on the best grow lights and whether you even need them here!

 

Seeds to Start Indoors in January

  • January 15: Sweet potatoes (start slips from a mature sweet potato)
  • January 15-25: Onions
  • January 15-25: Leeks

Seeds to Start Indoors in February

  • February 1-15: Celery
  • February 15-25: Perennial Herbs
  • February 15-25: Tomatoes or flowers intended for Mothers Day Gifts
  • February 25-March 5: Peppers

Seeds to Start Indoors in March

  • February 25-March 5: Peppers
  • March 1: Cabbage
  • March 1: Broccoli and Cauliflower
  • March 1-10: Annual Herbs
  • March 10-15: Tomatoes
  • March 10-15: Eggplant
  • March 15-20: Tomatillos
  • March 10-15: Most flowers
  • March 15-25: Lettuce, spinach and kale
  • March 15-25: A few early beets and radishes

Seeds to Start Indoors in April

  • April 5-10: Pre sprout peas between damp paper towels

Seeds to Start Indoors in May

  • May 20: Pre sprout corn between damp paper towels
  • May 20: Pre sprout beans between damp paper towels
  • May 20: Pre sprout squash between damp paper towels
  • May 20: Pre sprout cucumbers between damp towels
  • May 25: Pre sprout melons between damp paper towels

If you are starting seeds indoors, be sure to check out our grow light information page below!

 

11 Best Grow Lights for Plants

 

Where to Find Organic Plant Starts

Azure plant starts

 

Miss the time window for our zone 5 planting schedule, or don’t want to start your own seeds? You’ll definitely want to check out Ellie’s Eden, a branch of Azure Standard that offers high quality, organically grown plants from March through May each year. Azure has no membership fees and delivers for FREE to most of the US. You just have to meet their truck at the designated location in your area to pick up your order.

You can check out their seasonal plant offerings here, or find out more about how Azure works here.

 

 

About Pre Sprouting

how to pre sprout seeds

 

Pre sprouting is a helpful technique for short seasons. It gives larger seeds a head start while allowing the weather outside to warm up a bit more.

We use pre sprouting for corn, beans, squash, cucumbers and melons.

It’s less labor intensive and less disruptive to the plant than actually growing the seedlings in a pot, and doesn’t require much space to start hundreds or thousands of seeds.

To pre sprout seeds, Fold a paper towel in half, dampen it, place the seeds on one side and fold in half again to cover the seeds. Put the paper towel in a labeled plastic baggie. Seed started this way should be planted in the ground as soon as they start to germinate.

When the roots begin to emerge from the seeds, they need to be planted ASAP. Occasionally, if they need to be planted but the weather is still too cold, I go ahead and stick them in pots of soil until better weather.

 

Starting Salad Greens Indoors

starting salad greens indoors

 

Although I like to direct sow most of my salad greens, I start the first crop indoors to give me a head start on harvesting. In late March, I sow a few trays total of greens including lettuce, spinach and kale, as well as a few pots of beets and radishes. These are transplanted at 3 1/2-4 weeks, and are ready for harvest about two weeks after that. This allows me to harvest fresh veggies about 4 weeks earlier than I would direct seeding in my climate.

At the same time I transplant the first salad greens, I direct sow the second succession planting to give me a continuous harvest.

This is an optional but valuable part of my zone 5 planting schedule for short season climates!

 

Zone 5 Planting Schedule

This is my zone 5 planting schedule that I start with. Each year I make adjustments based on weather or if something was too late or too early the year before.

Like I said earlier, use this as a beginning point, but adjust it as you get to know your area better.

This zone 5 planting schedule is based on an average last frost date of June 5.

You’ll notice on our zone 5 planting schedule that we do plant some frost sensitive crops before the last frost date. This is because we have such a short season. If we wait until after the last frost, warm season crops don’t have time to mature before fall. Since we plant so early, we have to keep a close eye on the weather. If the forecast is below 38 degrees Fahrenheit, we either cover the sprouts over with soil if they are small enough, or use frost protection. A light frost isn’t a problem if the seeds are in the ground but haven’t come up yet.

For heat loving crops such as sweet potatoes, tomatoes and peppers, we wait until about June 10.

 

zone 5 planting schedule

 

April Planting Schedule

  • April 10-15: Peas
  • April 20-25: Lettuce, Spinach, Kale, Swiss Chard, Mustard (direct sow or transplant)
  • April 20-25: Onions (transplant)
  • April 20-25: Leeks (transplant)
  • April 20-25: Celery (transplant)
  • April 20-25: Carrots
  • April 20-25: Radishes
  • April 20-25: Beets (direct sow or transplant)
  • April 20-25: Parsnips
  • April 20-25: Turnips
  • April 20-30: Broccoli, Cauliflower (transplant)
  • April 20-30: Cabbage, Kohlrabi (transplant)
  • April 20-30: Brussels Sprouts, Collards (transplant)
  • April 25-30: Cilantro, Parsley, Thyme, Mint
  • April 25-30: Cold hardy flowers such as lavender, poppies, violets and pansies
  • April 25-May 10: Potatoes

May Planting Schedule

  • April 25-May-10: Potatoes
  • May 10-20: Sunflowers
  • May 25: Beans
  • May 25: Squash, Zucchini, Pumpkins
  • May 25: Corn
  • May 25: Cucumbers
  • May 25: Most Flowers

June Planting Schedule

  • June 1: Succession plant more peas, salad greens, radishes
  • June 1: Melons, Watermelon
  • June 10: Tomatoes
  • June 10: Peppers
  • June 10: Basil (transplant)
  • June 10: Sweet Potatoes (transplant slips)

October Planting Schedule

  • October 10-30: Garlic

 

Without cover, most succession plantings after June won’t have time to mature in my garden, so I did not include these in my zone 5 planting schedule.

I do plant some succession crops in July that get covered with floating row cover if frost threatens. These include lettuce, spinach, mustard, arugula, beets, hybrid carrots such as Napoli, radishes and cilantro. Amending the soil again at planting time is helpful for succession crops if you have already grown one or more crops in that spot in a particular year to ensure quick growth. Whether these later planted crops have time to mature does vary each season.

I would encourage you to experiment with succession plantings of salad and root crops to see how late you can plant them in your microclimate!

 

13 Comments

  • Lori

    Do you live in Central Illinois? I do and the website says our last frost date is April 27 a month earlier then you have listed for your last frost. I better get busy starting my seeds.

      • Brandy

        Thanks for the tips! I started a little earlier than you as I am in zone 5b Denver and our last frost date was supposed to be May 25 this year. However we got a deep freeze the last week or two that lasted 2 nights, the days were warmer though, after near a month of 80 degree weather. Any tips for seeds? I start all of mine indoors under a grow light, on a heat mat and my plants are always too small when it’s time to plant them. Like really small. Any advice appreciated as I just really enjoy sprouting from seed and gardening both veggies and flowers, I love “playing in the dirt” !

        • Kait

          Hi, Brandy!

          A few ideas to try are a different potting soil (I use G&B Organics and get really good growth), making sure the light is close to the plants (I adjust mine when the plants begin to touch it) and moving the plants to larger pots before they get root bound. If your house is warm, you might not need the heat mat. Personally, if I start seeds on a heat mat, I only leave it on until they germinate. If you are leaving it on, you might be “cooking” your plants. I start most of my seedlings in a heated greenhouse where they often get way too big before I can plant them, but I also have some grow lights in my house and get good growth in there even without a heat mat. Hope that helps!

    • Kait

      Hi, Cai!

      I don’t grow okra, since my season is pretty short for it and my family doesn’t care for it. If you want to try it in zone 5, it will need to be started indoors. Typically seed packets say to start it 3-4 weeks before your last frost, but you might need to start it earlier than that and move the plants to larger pots just to give them time to mature while the weather is warm enough in summer.

      Amaranth can be direct sown or transplanted in zone 5. I do both. Amaranth is not frost hardy, so should be planted after your first frost date. I start amaranth indoors in early April, or plant outside in late May.

      Hope that helps and sorry for the delayed response – I’ve been super busy in my own garden this year!

  • ashly

    do you have like a google sheet tracker and such to help keep you on task for the last freeze and first so to speak and what helps you as i am located in iowa zone areas 5a and 5b im just starting out but with inflation i have started my own garden and looking for insite how to keep track of such cause you said one yr was 95 days of actual growing and last yr was 80 days sorry if this is not making sense but please help new gardener here

    • Kait

      Hi, Ashly!

      No, I am not that organized! I have an idea of when our last and first frosts will be, but mainly I watch the weather forecast every day in the late spring and then again as we approach our first fall frost. On the property where we are now, our last spring frost has been as early as May 10 and as late as June 15. Since we have such a short growing season, I will often plant half or 1/3 of my seeds in mid May, and wait till June for the rest. That way I don’t lose them all if there is a frost. If I have plenty of seeds, I will go ahead and plant them early, knowing there is a chance I’ll have to replant. If you have a longer growing season to work with, you can wait until later when it is safer to plant and the soil is warmer. For tender transplants such as tomatoes and peppers, I always wait until mid June. Those are many times more expensive to replace than a seed! You should be able to find out online when your average frost dates are. It will also be helpful to talk to some other gardeners in your area. Hope that helps!

  • Michelle

    Thanks for the guidance. On 2/12/23 I cut up a small zima tomato and planted some of the pieces. 6 weeks later each of the seedlings are over 6″ tall and I have separated them into individual seedling containers. The green pepper seeds that I took when I made a salad last week have now surfaced. I am beyond excited and your guidelines have made me even more excited to start other plants in a timely manner.

    I appreciate you for sharing.
    Michelle

  • Angela Mathieu

    I’m in zone 5 (Colorado) and have been looking for something detailed and dummy-proof just like your list since we are first-time gardeners. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!!

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