22 Warm & Cool Crops You can Direct Seed in August and September (Germination & Growth Pictures): Plant a Fall Garden Now!

I wanted to provide visual examples of growth and germination for some warm and cool crops that can be direct seeded in August and September. Seeing how quickly the seeds grow, my influence your decision to try late summer direct seeding. It is the least expensive way to grow food. 

I am in Maryland zone 7. Many gardeners don't realize that warm crops, like beans, zucchini, squash, melons, and cucumbers, can be planted many times over the season. Multiple plantings, through the summer, is one strategy to beat pests and diseases. A topic I'll be addressing in a future blog article.

Gardeners also forget there is, in many gardens, an opportunity for a second round of cool season crop planting. Which of course is late summer into early winter, depending on your location.  Cool crop plants that are seeded into warm soil, germinate much more quickly than when planted in the cool soil of spring. We use this to our advantage, by planting them in later summer.

Here is a list of 22 crops I planted from my blog post on August 6, 2023: 35 Crops You Can Direct Seed in August and September. The pictures below are approximately 10 days from direct seeding. You can see what germination and growth looks like. The bottom line is everything is faster with the heat of summer warming the soil. I also included whether or not they are cool or warm season crops. Keep in mind that most of the plantings seen below will be thinned down to one or two plants. You can watch the video above, from my YouTube channel, if you want to see me talk about the 22 plants listed below. The appear in the they show up in the video. 

Spinach (cool)

5-7 days to germinate and about 10 days from seeding.

Spinach Seedlings

Beans (warm)

3-5 days to germinate and about 10 days from seeding.

Beans (Bush) Seedlings

Peas (cool)

4-5 days to germinate and about 10 days from seeding.

Peas Seedlings

Cantaloupe (warm)

3-5 days to germinate and about 8 days from seeding,

Cantaloupe Seedlings

Radish Daikon (cool)

3-4 days to germinate and about 8 days from seeding.

Radish (Daikon) Seedlings

Lettuce Romaine (cool)

4-6 days to germinate and about 8 days from seeding.

Lettuce (Romaine) Seedlings

Pak Choy (cool)

4-6 days to germinate and about 8 days from seeding.

Pak Choy Seedlings

Zucchini (warm)

3-5 days to germinate and about 10 days from seeding

Zucchini Seedlings

Cabbage (cool)

4-6 days to germinate and about 8 days from seeding.

Cabbage (Red) Seedlings

Collards (cool & warm)

4-6 days to germinate and about 8 days from seeding.

Collard Seedlings

Kale (cool & warm)

4-6 days to germinate and about 8 days from seeding.

Kale Seedlings

Mustard Greens (cool)

4-6 days to germinate and about 8 days from seeding.

Mustard Green Seedlings

Lettuce Bibb (cool)

4-6 days to germinate and about 8 days from seeding.

Lettuce (Bibb) Seedlings

Radish Globe (cool)

3-5 days to germinate and about 8 days from seeding.

Radish (Globe) Seedlings

Endive (cool)

4-6 days to germinate and about 8 days from seeding.

Endive Seedlings

Kohlrabi (cool)

4-6 days to germinate and about 8 days from seeding.

Kohlrabi Seedlings

Bunching Onions (cool & warm)

5-7 days to germinate and about 11 days from seeding.

Bunching Onion Seedlings

Beets (cool & warm)

5-7 days to germinate and about 11 days from seeding.

Beet Seedlings

Turnips (cool)

4-6 days to germinate and about 11 days from seeding.

Turnip Seedlings

Carrots (cool)

6-8 days to germinate and about 11 days from seeding.

Carrot Seedlings

Arugula (cool)

3 days to germinate and about 10 days from seeding.

Arugula Seedlings

Cucumbers (warm)

3-5 days to germinate and about 8 days from seeding.

Cucumber Seedlings

I recommend keeping a journal of the dates you direct seed. Cool crops do germinate more quickly in the warm summer soil but if they don't get the cool temperatures of fall 'soon enough' as they mature, they can quickly flower (bolt) and go to seed. For instance, Pak Choy, was probably planted to early in my garden, so I will plant it again in later August.  An example to find the right timing, in your garden, is to plant some seeds like radishes, August 1, August 15,  September 1, and September 15. You can assess when the best planting time is for them. If you need seeds for you fall garden please consider going to my seed and garden shop, link below and to all the seedling photograms. 

"A Garden Wants to Give"

Cheers!

Gary (The Rusted Garden)

At My Seed and Garden Shop

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