Succession planting means sowing a little at a time instead of everything at once, so you harvest a steady supply rather than one big glut. This planner builds the schedule for you. Pick a crop, set the date of your first sowing and how many weeks you want between sowings, enter your first fall frost, and it lists every sowing date along with the window when each batch should be ready to pick. The schedule stops at the last date that still matures before frost.
How to use the succession planting planner
- Choose a crop. Fast crops such as lettuce, radishes, spinach, bush beans and carrots work best.
- Enter the first sowing date. For cool-season crops this can be a few weeks before your last spring frost. Warm-season crops should wait until after it. The frost date tool can help.
- Choose the gap in weeks. Two weeks is a good starting point for lettuce and beans. Use one week for radishes, or three for slower crops, depending on how quickly you will eat them.
- Enter your first fall frost and adjust the fall slowdown if you want a more cautious or more generous cutoff.
- Read the schedule. Each row shows a sowing date and the expected harvest window for that batch.
How the schedule is calculated
The first batch is sown on your chosen date. Each later batch comes after the number of weeks you picked, and the harvest window for every batch is its sowing date plus the crop’s fastest and slowest days to maturity. The final sowing is the latest date that still leaves time to mature: your first fall frost minus the slowest days to maturity, minus the fall slowdown allowance, minus a seven-day buffer. After that date the planner stops, even if there is room for more rows.
Which crops suit succession planting
| Crop | Why it works | Typical gap |
|---|---|---|
| Lettuce | Matures fast, and heads or leaves bolt if left too long | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Radish | Ready in about a month and goes woody if left in the ground | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Bush beans | Each planting produces for a few weeks, then fades | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Carrot | Slow to sprout, but staggered rows give a longer harvest | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Spinach and bok choy | Quick cool-season crops that bolt in heat | 2 weeks |
Long-season crops such as tomatoes, winter squash and pumpkins are usually planted once, since one planting already occupies most of the season.
Tips for better succession plantings
- Mind the heat. Cool-season crops sown in midsummer often struggle to germinate and may bolt. Give them shade and steady moisture, or skip the hottest weeks.
- Re-use space. When one crop finishes, plant the next in the same spot after adding a little compost. Our garden row calculator helps with the row layout.
- Check the real harvest. The windows are estimates. Use the harvest date calculator for a single planting.
- Do not overplant. Sow only what your household will eat in one gap period.
- Know the last date. The latest planting date calculator explains the fall cutoff in more detail.
Limits of this tool
Days to maturity are typical values from our plant database and vary with variety, weather and soil. Frost dates are averages and can shift from year to year. Treat the schedule as a plan to adjust through the season, and check your local Cooperative Extension office for the dates that suit your area.
Frequently asked questions
What is succession planting?
Sowing the same crop in small batches over several weeks so it ripens in stages instead of all at once.
How often should I plant lettuce?
Every one to two weeks is a common schedule, which gives you a steady supply of fresh heads or leaves through the cool part of the season.
Why does the schedule stop before frost?
Later sowings would not have time to mature before the first fall frost. The planner stops at the last safe date.
Can I use this for tomatoes?
You can, but tomatoes are normally planted once because they produce for months. Succession planting is mainly for fast or short-lived crops.
Does the planner account for summer heat?
No. It uses typical days to maturity and a fall slowdown allowance, but not the effect of heat on germination or bolting, so judge midsummer sowings of cool-season crops yourself.