What to Plant in August USA

Home Vegetable Growing Guides for the USA Vegetable Planting Calendar USA What to Plant in August USA

What to plant in August in the USA depends entirely on your zone — this page answers it for every band. August is the fall-planting month. Direct sow fall greens and roots, transplant fall brassicas, and in the hot band start the fall tomato and pepper crop. Count backward from your first frost date before sowing anything.

SoilCommander Editorial Team

USA vegetable growing guides · Checked against USDA and Cooperative Extension guidance

Every USA growing guide is written and maintained by our editorial team for real US growing conditions, and checked against USDA hardiness and frost-date data and Cooperative Extension growing advice before publication.

Sep-Nov

First frost across most bands

Count back

DTM + 2 weeks before first frost

Fall window

Hot band: best planting of the year

August planting by region

Band	Sow outdoors	Start indoors	Plant out	Harvest now
Cold band USDA zones 3-5	Fall spinach, lettuce, radish, turnips and fast greens.	Little — the season is closing.	Fall brassica transplants early month.	Tomatoes, peppers, beans, corn, zucchini, onions, potatoes.
Mild band USDA zones 6-7	Fall carrots, beets, spinach, lettuce, radish, turnips.	Overwintering brassicas.	Fall brassica transplants.	Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, corn, melons.
Hot band USDA zones 8-10	Fall greens late month; beans and squash for a fall crop.	Fall tomatoes and peppers.	Fall brassica transplants in shade.	Okra, southern peas, melons, sweet potatoes, peppers.

August garden jobs

Work out your first frost date and subtract each crop's days to maturity.
Sow fall greens where summer crops have finished.
Keep watering — August drought stress ruins fall crops before they establish.
Order garlic now for autumn planting; good cultivars sell out.
Save seed from your best-performing open-pollinated plants.

Common August mistakes

Sowing fall crops too late to mature before frost.
Assuming the garden is finished — August planting is what fills October.
Letting fall brassica seedlings dry out during establishment.
Leaving diseased summer foliage in place to overwinter pathogens.

Turn August's jobs into a written plan. The USA Vegetable Garden Planner (printable PDF) has frost-date planning pages, bed layouts, crop rotation, a sowing log and a harvest tracker — 74 printable pages.

More USA planting guides

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I plant in August in the USA?

Fall greens, spinach, lettuce, radish, turnips, carrots and beets, plus fall brassica transplants. In zones 8-10 August also starts the fall tomato and pepper crop.

How do I know if it is too late to plant?

Add the crop's days to maturity to today's date, then add about two weeks for slower fall growth. If that lands after your first frost, choose a faster crop.

Is August too late for beans?

In zones 7 and warmer, usually not — a 55-day bush bean sown in early August generally makes it. In zones 3-5 it is too late.

Last updated 25 August 2026

Relevant next steps

Turn This Month's Jobs Into A Plan

Month-by-month advice works best when it becomes a written sowing list, bed plan, and follow-up task list.

Printable garden plannerRecord this month's sowing dates, crop rotation, and bed tasks. Seed starting setupChoose trays, labels, compost, and indoor sowing tools before you start. Full planting calendarCompare this month with the rest of the UK growing year.

Plan the next step

Use the printable SoilCommander planner for your region to turn this guide into sowing dates, bed layouts and weekly garden tasks.

Get Planner

What to Plant in August USA