Seed Starting Schedule
Find out exactly when to start seeds indoors, when to move seedlings outside, and when to expect your first harvest — all from your last frost date.
✓ Free & instant ✓ 10 common vegetables ✓ Dates for your zone
Seed Starting Calculator
Please enter a last frost date and try again.
Your seed starting dates
How the seed starting schedule works
Every seed calendar starts from one date: your last frost date — the average last spring day when temperatures drop to freezing. Tender vegetables such as tomatoes and peppers cannot survive frost, so they are started indoors weeks before that date and moved outside only once frost has passed. Hardy vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and onions are tougher and can go out several weeks before the last frost.
Pick your zone or enter your last frost date, choose a vegetable, and the calculator works out your three key dates: when to sow indoors, when to transplant outside (after a week of hardening off), and roughly when to expect your first harvest.
Worked example
Tomatoes with a last frost date of 10 May 2026: start seeds indoors 7 weeks before, on 22 Mar 2026; transplant outside on the last frost date, 10 May 2026; first harvest about 70 days later, around 19 Jul 2026.
Seed starting dates at a glance
| Vegetable | Start indoors | Transplant outdoors | Days to harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomato | 7 weeks before last frost | On last frost date | 70 |
| Pepper | 8 weeks before last frost | 2 weeks after last frost | 75 |
| Eggplant | 8 weeks before last frost | 2 weeks after last frost | 70 |
| Cucumber | 3 weeks before last frost | 1 week after last frost | 55 |
| Zucchini / courgette | 3 weeks before last frost | 1 week after last frost | 50 |
| Lettuce | 5 weeks before last frost | 2 weeks before last frost | 45 |
| Broccoli | 6 weeks before last frost | 4 weeks before last frost | 60 |
| Cabbage | 6 weeks before last frost | 4 weeks before last frost | 65 |
| Onion | 10 weeks before last frost | 4 weeks before last frost | 100 |
| Basil | 6 weeks before last frost | 2 weeks after last frost | 50 |
Common seed starting mistakes
- Starting seeds too early. Big, old seedlings transplant badly. Stick to the weeks in the table — a younger, stocky seedling catches up fast outdoors.
- Skipping hardening off. Seedlings raised indoors need about a week outside in increasing sun and wind before transplanting, or they wilt and scorch.
- Moving tender crops out before the last frost. One cold night can kill tomatoes, peppers and basil. Wait until frost has passed and night temperatures stay above 10°C (50°F).
- Starting root crops indoors. Carrots, parsnips and radishes hate transplanting — sow them directly where they will grow.
- Sowing too deep and forgetting labels. As a rule, sow a seed about twice as deep as it is wide, and label every tray on the day you sow.