What to Plant in March USA

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

What to plant in March in the USA depends entirely on your zone — this page answers it for every band. March is peak indoor sowing in the cold band, the start of outdoor sowing in the mild band, and the last cool-season window before heat arrives in the hot band. Start tomatoes, peppers and brassicas indoors; direct sow carrots, radishes, peas and hardy greens where soil has reached 40-45F.

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.

40-45F

Soil minimum for hardy direct sowing

Mar-Apr

Last frost across most of the mild band

Last call

Hot band: final cool-crop sowing

March planting by region

Band	Sow outdoors	Start indoors	Plant out	Harvest now
Cold band USDA zones 3-5	Peas, spinach and radish very late month where soil is workable.	Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, brassicas — the main sowing month.	None; harden off nothing yet.	Overwintered kale and leeks; forced rhubarb.
Mild band USDA zones 6-7	Carrots, radish, beets, lettuce, spinach, peas, turnips.	Cucurbits late month; succession lettuce.	Brassica transplants, onion sets, potatoes.	Overwintered greens, early radish, spring onions.
Hot band USDA zones 8-10	Beans, corn, squash, cucumbers and melons; last lettuce and spinach before heat.	Okra, sweet potato slips for later planting.	Tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.	Brassicas, peas, carrots, beets, greens.

March garden jobs

Test soil temperature at seed depth before direct sowing anything.
Harden off transplants over 7-10 days — never move them straight outside.
Add compost to beds as they become workable.
Set up supports for peas before the plants need them.
Watch the forecast; a late frost after a warm spell is the classic March loss.

Common March mistakes

Planting tomatoes out on the first warm week — a single frost after transplanting kills the whole planting.
Direct sowing into cold soil because the air feels warm; soil lags weeks behind air temperature.
Skipping hardening off, which causes transplant shock and stalls growth.
In the hot band, sowing lettuce and spinach late in March, which bolt within weeks as heat builds.

Turn March'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 soil temperature do I need to plant in March?

At least 40-45F for hardy crops such as peas, spinach, radish and lettuce. Carrots want 45F or above. Tender crops need 60F and should not go in yet in most of the country.

Can I plant potatoes in March?

In the mild band, yes — plant once soil is workable and above about 45F. In the cold band wait until April. In the hot band, March is already late.

Is it safe to plant tomatoes outside in March?

Only in zones 9-10. Everywhere else, wait until after your last frost and until nights hold above 50F.

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 March USA