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Vegetable Gardening

When to start fall crops in Los Angeles, CA?

alrightypewriter

14 years ago

When should someone in LA start their fall crops and how late can you plant seeds and transplants? I'm growing in an Earthbox and got a late start on the summer crops. Pollination has also been slow so my butternut squash may not be ready until late September. :-\

Comments (6)

zebraman
14 years ago
It depends where you are at in LA. I am near the beach and west of Lincoln blvd. I still have tomatoes and peppers ripening in late Dec. and early Jan. I have some planted and some that I am waiting for the daytime temps to drop a little.
ancfan
14 years ago
I'm in central cali in the foothills, I won't be starting for fall crops until late sept or early oct (depends on course of the weather) I will be direct planting
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ania_ca
14 years ago
I'm planting brussel sprouts inside now to prepare for planting them out in Septemeber. I'm planting all my other fall crops in September. Maybe early Oct. for the onions.

I'm in LA county as well, but inland in the Santa Clarita valley. If you are closer to the ocean, it makes a difference too.

Ania
alrightypewriter
Original Author
14 years ago
I'm right on the border between Atwater Village and Glendale. So definitely more inland. I just want to make sure I have enough time to do cool weather crops, but it always feels warm from what I can remember. I want to grow leeks, broccoli, cauliflower, and some lettuces all from seeds. So maybe October would be okay to plant?
walkinggin
14 years ago
For fall crops I have a difficult time keeping seeds that are sown close to the surface evenly moist until they germinate. I wait for cooler fall weather before I start lettuce because it struggles in the heat and dry Santa Ana'a and struggling lettuce is not worth eating.

Broccoli and cauliflower can be started now indoors to transfer out in sept.

I am going to try leeks for the first time this year too and they supposedly germinate at temp 50 to 75 degrees so I plan to direct sow them at the same time as the lettuce- mid/late Oct.
bejay9_10
14 years ago
Here is a website that I refer to when planting vegetables. It was very confusing when I first started gardening here, but this has worked well in the So. Cal., San Diego, Sunset zone 23-24 area.

www.digitalseed.com/gardener/schedule/vegetable.html
Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

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