Florida · zones 8b–11a
When to plant broccoli in Florida.
Sow or transplant between Dec 13 to Jan 10 in a typical year, keyed to Florida's median last frost around Feb 3. A second, fall sowing fits Aug 31 to Oct 10. Dates below are state medians; your ZIP code shifts them by days to weeks.
The 2026 windows
Broccoli dates for a typical Florida season.
1 · Start indoors
Nov 1 to Nov 29
About 6 weeks before set-out. Warm spot, real light.
2 · Set out
Dec 13 to Jan 10
Keyed to the ~Feb 3 last frost. Sow 0.5" deep, 18" apart.
Fall round
Aug 31 to Oct 10
Counted back from the ~Dec 15 first frost.
Harvest
~60 days later
~1.2 lb per plant over ~3 weeks.
Florida spans more than one climate: Zone 9 is the most common zone, but the state runs 8b to 11a. That's why the planner works from your ZIP code's frost dates, not your zone: mountain and coastal gardens in the same state can be three weeks apart.
Florida growing notes
Florida broccoli skips spring almost entirely.
Winter is the only real season here
Florida's last frost date is not one number: it lands around mid-February in central counties, drags into late March across the panhandle, and rarely shows up at all in the deep south. None of that actually drives this crop's calendar, though, because summer heat closes the growing window weeks before any cold snap would open it, leaving almost no true spring window for a crop that needs sustained cool weather to form a tight head. Broccoli here is really a fall-into-winter crop: transplants set once summer heat finally breaks grow through the mildest, most reliable stretch of the Florida calendar and finish heading while nights are still cool enough to keep the head tight.
North Florida, in the panhandle's zone 8b, still gets occasional real cold snaps through the winter that a plant has to shrug off, while central and south Florida rarely see anything colder than a light frost the whole season. Either way, the planting logic flips from what a colder-climate gardener expects: here you are racing the return of heat in one direction only, not squeezing a crop between two frost dates the way a northern garden does.
Buttoning is a heat problem here, not a cold snap
Buttoning, where a broccoli plant gives up early and sets a head no bigger than a golf ball, gets blamed on cold further north, but in Florida it is almost always heat that triggers it: a transplant that goes in too early, while the ground is still holding late-summer warmth, forms its head under conditions the plant reads as a signal to finish fast and small rather than grow to full size. Waiting for the heat to genuinely break before transplanting matters more here than almost any other single decision in growing this crop.
Once a head has buttoned there is no fixing it that season; the head stays small no matter how much care follows. The only real correction is timing the next round later into the cool stretch, since a Florida winter runs mild enough that a slightly late transplant still has plenty of season left to finish a full-sized head before spring heat returns.
The caterpillar gauntlet runs almost year-round here
Cabbage worms, loopers, and flea beetles do not really go dormant through a Florida winter the way they do further north, since even the coldest nights in most of the state rarely hold long enough to knock the population back hard. A weekly flip-and-check of leaf undersides, looking for ragged holes and the caterpillars themselves, needs to run through the entire growing window here rather than easing off once the weather cools the way a gardener further north might expect.
Bt sprayed on a weekly schedule once caterpillars are found controls the worms and loopers while sparing bees and other pollinators working nearby crops, and it needs to start early, from transplant, rather than waiting until heads begin forming. Flea beetles show up worst on young transplants still building their first true leaves, and a floating row cover left on from planting day until the plant has enough leaf area to spare blocks them without a single spray.
In Florida: watch for
The pests that find broccoli here.
With about 315 frost-free days, broccoli spends longer in the ground here than in most of the country, which widens the window in which cabbage worms & loopers can find it. Scout weekly from midseason and act on the first signs.
Green caterpillars chewing ragged holes; green droppings.
Organic fix: Handpick, cover with netting, spray Bt.
Gray-green clusters tucked into the leaf folds.
Organic fix: Blast with water, then insecticidal soap.
Tiny holes peppering the young leaves.
Organic fix: Row cover from day one; diatomaceous earth.
Black rot
Yellow V-shaped wedges cutting in from the leaf edge, veins blackening inside.
Organic fix: Pull infected plants, water at the base, keep brassicas out of that bed 3 years.
Seedlings wilt, yellow and stall for no reason; white maggots tunnel the roots.
Organic fix: Row cover before the flies are up, when yellow rocket blooms; rotate the bed.
Your season math: Florida gives broccoli about 315 frost-free days, and it needs roughly 60 days to a first harvest. It's a one-planting crop, so time that single sowing well.
Planting broccoli in Florida: questions
When should I plant broccoli in Florida?+
In a typical Florida year, sow broccoli or set out transplants between Dec 13 to Jan 10, keyed to the state's median last frost around Feb 3. There's also a fall window: Aug 31 to Oct 10. Your exact dates shift with your ZIP code and microclimate.
When do I start broccoli seeds indoors in Florida?+
Start seeds inside about 6 weeks before set-out: roughly Nov 1 to Nov 29 for a typical Florida season.
What USDA zone is Florida?+
Florida spans zones 8b–11a, mostly zone 9. But frost dates, not zones, set planting time. The free planner uses your ZIP code's actual frost dates.
How many broccoli plants do I need?+
Depends who you're feeding. The crop page has exact counts per household size, or the free planner does the math for your family in about 60 seconds.