Gardening Supplies

How to Use Growing Season Length (for Gardening Success)



The length of your growing season is one of the most important gardening numbers to know. Your growing season length determines what plants you can grow in summer. Gardener Scott discusses how to figure out and use that information in the garden. (Video #244)

Find your dates:
First Frost Date: https://www.weather.gov/pub/ClimateFallFreezeData
Last Frost Date: https://www.weather.gov/pub/ClimateSpringFreezeData
Your Frost dates: https://morningchores.com/frost-dates/

Join the Gardener Scott channel to get access to perks. Click the “JOIN” button or link here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWsI0LmiDyezbnN2JCL4P9w/join

You can also support the channel with Gardener Scott merchandise like T-shirts and mugs at the Gardener Scott Store: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWsI0LmiDyezbnN2JCL4P9w/store

Click this link to SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWsI0LmiDyezbnN2JCL4P9w?view_as=subscriber?sub_confirmation=1

To order a GreenStalk vertical garden system, click on this affiliate link:
http://lddy.no/kdvq
Use code”GARDENERSCOTT” for a $10 discount.

You can help support the Gardener Scott channel in five ways that won’t cost you anything extra:

1.) Be part of the community by liking videos, subscribing, clicking the bell, commenting, and sharing.

2.) Watch the ads whenever you can. It just takes a few seconds and helps me a lot.

3.) If you use Amazon and want to buy anything at all, click through with this link: http://www.amazon.com/?tag=gardenerscott-20

4) Check out Gardener Scott’s Recommended Gardening Books at: https://bookshop.org/shop/gardenerscott

5) Click on this affiliate link to get Audible books that you can listen to in the garden: https://amzn.to/3jEHrys

Your support helps me pay for plants, gardening supplies, and all of the other costs associated with running a YouTube channel.

Thank you for your support!

#EnjoyGardening #GardenerScott

Links included in this description and referenced in videos might be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you purchase a product or service with the links I provide, I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you for those affiliate links and your support allows me to provide free content every week on the Gardener Scott channel. Thank you!

31 Comments

  1. Thank you! So helpful! Been collecting local weather info last couple of days. Turns out i was trying to figure out my 'growing season' here in high desert Arizona, where days between freeze dates are first hot, dry and windy, and then a hot wet monsoon period, producing two short growing seasons. Challenging, but a greenhouse, mulch and shade cloth will hopefully help extend the growing season(s). At least that's the plan this year 🙂

  2. Does the benefit of direct sowing some plants outweigh the advantage of starting the plant indoors? I'm thinking of winter squash because I have been told it is better to direct sow squashes but I loose light in late August although my frost isn't until the end of September. Thank you!

  3. Love these kind of videos Scott. Mabye you could in the future discuss how latitude and hardiness zones interact for example I imagine it must be much harder to grow warm season crops in zone 7b Alaska than it is in 6A Georgia? How does the sun's angle effect the duration of the growing season?

  4. Thank you for the explanation and clarification. I had seen the MIgardener video, and this is perfect companion video. My location. 6a, May 3 to October 10.

  5. Love your videos GS!! I watch them all year round but start to get antsy about now. What do you plant in the raised something over your left shoulder? The one with the black wrap and the green stake in the middle. It's about 4' high.

  6. UK problems. We have a growing season in the south from basically the start of May to November but still cannot grow things like melons outside because it doesn't get hot enough. We need to use greenhouses/polytunnels and still can only grow the same types as yourself. First frost date is almost never used for this reason.

    We do have the potential of lots of succession sowing though so no real complaints.

  7. Hello there! This is my first year as gardener and where I live summers are really hot (Seville, Spain). I was starting to worry about what would happen to my veg garden on that time. You gave the clue to my concerns! Thanks

  8. Interesting to hear your growing season! We are also zone 5B, but have about a 150 day season on average, running Memorial day to Halloween +/-

  9. The Farmer's Almanac says my growing season is 247 days, yet I've been growing 365 days as my collards love the winter frost and I'll cover my lettuce and some root veggies when the temps get down less than 28 degrees.

  10. I am 5b as well in the Georgian Bay area of Ontario, but unlike you, we have well over a foot of snow on everything. Keeps the soil cooler for longer in the spring.

  11. This was an excellent explanation! I’m in the Netherlands and often get asked what my zone is by American gardeners. Officially, it’s 8A, but since we’re on the 52nd parallel north, our growing season is much shorter than that of a comparable hardiness zone in the USA. I’ve just made a video trying to explain this too 🙂

  12. This makes me think of how many plants were killed in Texas that technically are tropicals. Maybe it's time to rethink growing zones. I am starting to think the farmers almanac is a work of trivia.

  13. Oh man. THIS is what we hadn't taken into account. Many times we've tried to grow large tomatoes or peppers, but they haven't ripened in time. Thank you so much! I'm going to look up my growing season right now.

  14. Great, timely info! I'm ready to extend my season next month – good thing I love all those cold-loving greens! 😀

  15. Texas (Zone 8b bordering 9a) last year summer hit over 100°F. Many plants shutdown after 90°F. Two years ago we were hitting 120°F. My peppers started producing in the Fall. I tried rigging a shade cloth but with our winds I need to build something much more substantial. I even tried putting T shirts on tomatoe cages. It helped to a degree. Might work for transplanting seedlings.

  16. I live in AZ and grow through the summer. Zone 9B. So, your brother must be doing something wrong because crops grow here pretty much year round.

    A huge benefit of zone 9B is that several plants such as peppers, tomatoes, tomatillo, and eggplant can produce for more than one growing season. I've had pepper plants go 5 years with zero issues.

Write A Comment

Pin