Clearwater growing guide
What to Plant in Clearwater, FL: Month-by-Month Calendar
Clearwater does not follow the familiar northern pattern of one spring garden followed by a long winter break. The useful planting window changes crop by crop, and our hottest months are often the hardest time for familiar vegetables.
What to plant now in Clearwater
Find the current month below for a short list of outdoor planting choices. Clearwater uses the Central Florida column of the UF/IFAS Vegetable Gardening Guide. These are planting windows, not harvest dates or a promise that every crop is in stock.
Direct sow means plant seed in its final bed or container. Transplant means set out an established, hardened seedling. Start your own transplants ahead of the outdoor window; do not treat a seed-starting date as a pickup date. Delay tender crops if frost is forecast.
| Month | Direct sow outdoors | Set out hardened transplants |
|---|---|---|
| January | Carrots, radishes, peas, summer squash | Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, kale, lettuce |
| February | Bush beans, carrots, radishes, peas | Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, kale, lettuce |
| March | Bush beans, cucumbers, radishes, okra | Peppers, Swiss chard |
| April | Bush beans, summer squash, okra, southern peas | Swiss chard; sweet potato slips |
| May | Okra, southern peas | Swiss chard; sweet potato slips |
| June | Okra, southern peas | Sweet potato slips |
| July | Okra, southern peas | No new outdoor transplants in this shortlist |
| August | Bush beans, summer squash, carrots | Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant |
| September | Bush beans, cucumbers, radishes, carrots | Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, kale, lettuce, Swiss chard |
| October | Carrots, radishes, arugula | Kale, lettuce, collards, Swiss chard |
| November | Peas, carrots, radishes, arugula | Kale, lettuce, collards, Swiss chard |
| December | Peas, carrots, radishes, arugula | Kale, lettuce, collards, Swiss chard |
January through March: establish spring fruiting crops early
The Central Florida table lists January–February for tomatoes and eggplant, and January–March for peppers. These frost-sensitive plants need suitable weather and protection from cold; the calendar is not permission to plant into a freeze.
March is already outside the listed tomato transplant window. Instead of treating all of spring alike, plan backward from the crop you want and give it time before hot nights make fruit set harder.
April through July: switch to heat-season crops
Okra and southern peas have Central Florida planting windows from February through August; sweet potato slips can go out February–June. Established hot peppers may keep producing, but starting a new bed of large-fruited tomatoes in midsummer is a different proposition.
Use empty beds for soil improvement or solarization. Keep containers draining freely and check moisture rather than assuming daily summer rain reaches every root ball.
August and September: start the fall garden
Tomato, pepper, and eggplant transplants return to the calendar in August–September. Direct sow beans and summer squash in those months; cucumbers have a September fall window. September also opens the listed windows for kale, collards, and lettuce, with heat and pest pressure still worth watching.
October through December: greens, roots, and herbs
Kale, collards, and lettuce fit the cooler season, and carrots and radishes can be sown in small successive batches. English and snow peas enter the Central Florida calendar in November. Cool-season herbs such as cilantro become more practical as temperatures ease.
The calendar describes what can be planted, not what must be pulled out. Keep healthy established crops while they are productive, and reduce irrigation as moisture loss slows.
Sources and further reading
Planting windows use UF/IFAS guidance for Florida. The linked university and Extension resources support the growing advice above: