What to Plant in Louisiana in July
July in Louisiana is a heat month, not a frost month. Direct-sow okra, southern peas, sweet potato slips and heat-tolerant beans now, and use the shade…
Gardening in Louisiana
Everything we have worked out for Louisiana: what to plant and when, which varieties finish in time, the pests that actually turn up here, and the jobs that pay off month by month. We also cover the rest of the property, from lawns and soil to home care and energy, because a garden rarely stops at the vegetable bed.
The numbers first, because everything else follows from them. Measured at the weather station in New Orleans, the last spring freeze runs January 18 to February 8 and the first fall freeze runs December 17 to January 8, USDA zones 8a-10a, 7,275 growing degree days in the year.
Heat, not frost, is what shortens the season here: above 86 °F tomato pollen goes sterile, so growers run a spring crop and an autumn one rather than a single long season. Garlic is the awkward one: only 0 weeks below 40 °F, where it needs six to split into cloves. Chill the cloves before planting, or grow a softneck type.
Elsewhere on the property in Louisiana: the pests that turn up here.
Figures from NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals. A state is not one climate: elevation, a large lake or the coast can move these dates by two weeks either way, so check your own county with the extension service before you spend money.
What to Plant in Louisiana in January
January in Louisiana means garlic and shallot sets still going into workable ground, hardy greens holding on in the garden, and satsumas and navel…
What to Plant in Louisiana in February
February in Louisiana splits into two different gardens depending on where you stand.
What to Plant in Louisiana in December
December in Louisiana sits inside the state’s own frost arrival window, not ahead of it, so this is not a month to wait out.
What to Plant in Louisiana in August
August in Louisiana means one thing above all else: heat, not frost, decides what goes in the ground.
What to Plant in Louisiana in April
By April, Louisiana has already left frost behind by a wide margin. NOAA climate data puts the state’s last spring freeze window between January 18 and…
Growing Peppers in Louisiana: Fruit Set, Heat and Timing
South Louisiana pepper growers fight heat, not cold. New Orleans averages 70.7 days a year at or above 90 F, and that heat load is exactly what shuts…
Growing Potatoes in Louisiana: Dates, Varieties and Summer Heat
South Louisiana rarely sees a hard freeze at all, and that changes everything about how potatoes are grown here.
Pepper Varieties That Ripen in a Louisiana Season
Louisiana’s growing season isn’t limited by frost, it’s limited by heat. Peppers stop setting fruit once days consistently top 90 F, and this state logs…
Watering Through a Dry Spell in Louisiana
Louisiana gardens face a specific math problem each summer: plenty of rain on paper, but heat and clay soils that eat through it fast.