Grow · field guide
Succession Planting: Never Have a Hungry Gap
The classic beginner pattern is to plant all the lettuce in May, drown in salad for two weeks, then have none. Succession planting fixes it: instead of one big sowing, you plant a little, often, so the harvest arrives in a steady stream all season.
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Plant a little, often
For fast crops you harvest all at once, sow a short row every week or two instead of one long row. Each sowing matures a couple of weeks after the last, so you pick a manageable amount at a time rather than 20 heads in one weekend.
A good rule: do not sow more of a quick crop than your household eats in two weeks.
What to resow, and how often
The crops that reward succession planting, with how often to sow another round:
- Lettuce and salad greens: a short row every 7 to 10 days.
- Radishes: every week. They are ready in about 28 days.
- Bush beans: a new patch every 2 weeks for steady picking.
- Sweet corn: every 2 weeks, or plant early, mid, and late varieties at once.
- Carrots and beets: every 2 to 3 weeks.
What not to succession plant
Some crops give one planting a long harvest, so you plant them once and keep picking. Tomatoes, peppers, and pole beans produce for weeks or months from a single sowing. Winter squash and onions make one crop you store. Save succession planting for the fast, all-at-once crops.
Know when to stop
Every crop needs enough warm days to finish before frost. Count back from your first fall frost date by the crop's days to maturity, and make that your last sow date. The planner does this for you and schedules each resow, so you plant the next round before the last one runs out.
Keep going
Questions, answered straight
Sowing the same crop in small batches a week or two apart, instead of all at once, so the harvest comes in a steady stream rather than one overwhelming glut followed by nothing.
Sow a short row every 7 to 10 days through the cool season. Stop about 4 weeks before summer heat or the first hard frost, depending on the season.
Tomatoes, peppers, pole beans, and other long-harvest crops produce for weeks from one planting. Winter squash and onions make a single storable crop. Succession is for fast, harvest-all-at-once crops.
When there are no longer enough days before frost for the crop to mature. Count back from your first fall frost by the days to maturity. The planner flags your last safe sow date.
Know when it's time to plant
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