New York · zones 5a–7b
When to plant broccoli in New York.
Sow or transplant between Mar 9 to Apr 6 in a typical year, keyed to New York's median last frost around Apr 30. A second, fall sowing fits Jul 4 to Aug 13. Dates below are state medians; your ZIP code shifts them by days to weeks.
The 2026 windows
Broccoli dates for a typical New York season.
1 · Start indoors
Jan 26 to Feb 23
About 6 weeks before set-out. Warm spot, real light.
2 · Set out
Mar 9 to Apr 6
Keyed to the ~Apr 30 last frost. Sow 0.5" deep, 18" apart.
Fall round
Jul 4 to Aug 13
Counted back from the ~Oct 18 first frost.
Harvest
~60 days later
~1.2 lb per plant over ~3 weeks.
New York spans more than one climate: Zone 7 is the most common zone, but the state runs 5a to 7b. 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.
New York growing notes
Broccoli transplants into New York on the same two windows as its leafy relatives, but its single head, filling out clean or falling apart under stress, makes the fall window's edge run deepest here.
One head, and not much room for stress
A leafy crop like kale rewards a gardener with leaves cut a few at a time for months, but broccoli asks for patience of a different kind: set 18 inches apart, it needs about 60 days to reach harvest, the longest run to maturity of the common brassicas grown here, all spent building toward one central head. A mature plant gives up only around 1.2 pounds for the whole effort, most of it in that single cut.
That single-head habit also makes broccoli the least forgiving of stress at either end of its window. A transplant set out too early, while a late cold snap is still likely, can check hard enough that it commits to a tiny, undersized head, called buttoning, instead of a full one, with no fix once it forms. A transplant that instead runs into real heat while the head is filling shows the opposite failure: the tight cluster of buds loosens and starts showing yellow petals before the head sizes up. Once either sign shows, cut what's there rather than waiting, because it won't improve.
Why the fall window carries less risk here
A fall-set transplant skips the heat-ricing risk almost entirely, since it fills its head as the weather cools rather than warms, the real reason growers here lean on fall planting. How much runway that planting gets depends on where it's growing: on Long Island's zone 7b, a fall transplant has a wide stretch of mild weather left to finish in, while up in the North Country's zone 5a, that same transplant needs to go in earlier in the summer to have any real shot at heading before a hard frost shuts the plant down.
Cabbage maggot cuts against that fall timing more than gardeners might expect. The first brood is generally worst upstate, but a third brood emerges midsummer, right when fall transplants go in, so a collar or cover at transplanting still earns its keep on a fall planting, not just a spring one. Long Island sees pressure from this pest over a longer stretch than the rest of the state. For that fall planting, Belstar heads reliably in a single main cut, while De Cicco, an old variety that throws smaller side shoots for weeks after the first cut, keeps a bed producing well past when a single-head type has finished.
What hides in the head, and the rot that follows a wound
Cabbage worms and loopers do their worst damage on broccoli specifically because the harvested part is a tight cluster of buds they can crawl down into and disappear from view, unlike a leaf crop where the damage sits out in the open. A head that looked clean at the cutting board deserves a soak in salted water for several minutes before cooking; any caterpillar riding inside floats free rather than turning up on a dinner plate. Flea beetles matter most on the youngest transplants, riddling small leaves with holes before the plant has enough size to shrug it off, and a row cover held over the bed for the first couple weeks after transplanting handles that window without further attention.
Black rot enters mostly through wounds and torn leaf edges, then shows as yellow, V-shaped lesions pointing in from the margin toward the vein, worse in wet years since it spreads on splashing water and on hands or tools moving through damp plants. Sanitizing tools between plants during a wet stretch and clearing old plant debris after harvest cuts down on what carries the disease into next year's planting far more than any spray. Aphids round out the list, clustering on the underside of the youngest leaves near the head; a firm water spray during a weekly check keeps a light colony from settling in before it can distort new growth.
In New York: watch for
The pests that find broccoli here.
A middle-length season, about 171 frost-free days, means broccoli overlaps cabbage worms & loopers for a stretch each summer. Check plants every week or two and treat early.
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: New York gives broccoli about 171 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 New York: questions
When should I plant broccoli in New York?+
In a typical New York year, sow broccoli or set out transplants between Mar 9 to Apr 6, keyed to the state's median last frost around Apr 30. There's also a fall window: Jul 4 to Aug 13. Your exact dates shift with your ZIP code and microclimate.
When do I start broccoli seeds indoors in New York?+
Start seeds inside about 6 weeks before set-out: roughly Jan 26 to Feb 23 for a typical New York season.
What USDA zone is New York?+
New York spans zones 5a–7b, mostly zone 7. 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.