When to Plant Vegetables Around San Antonio and Poteet

At a glance Plan for a spring garden and a fall garden, then choose a planting window for each crop. Around San Antonio, tomatoes go into the garden as transplants in spring and again in summer for a fall crop. Cool-season crops follow a different schedule. Use the calendar below to see the action, the crop and the dates together.

A warm weekend can make everything look ready to plant. The useful question is more specific: ready for which vegetable, grown from seed or from a transplant, in which garden?

This is a San Antonio-area planning guide for gardeners in Bexar County and nearby Poteet. Its dates come from Bexar County Extension and Bexar County Master Gardeners. Poteet is in Atascosa County; these dates are a starting reference there, rather than a separately verified Poteet calendar. Sources checked November 6, 2026.

San Antonio vegetable planting calendar: choose your month

Choose a month to narrow this shortlist. A crop appearing in a month does not mean the whole month is suitable. For example, a window ending May 5 leaves only the first five days of May. These are planting windows, not harvest dates, and this selection does not include every crop you could grow.

The full table stays available for planning and printing. “Sow outdoors” means put seed into the final growing location. “Plant transplants” means start with an established young plant.

Spring dates: Bexar County Extension spring planting list. Later windows: BCMG vegetable calendar. A dash means this shortlist provides no second window, rather than a claim that a crop cannot be planted later. Month-based entries retain the source’s level of detail.

Keep three different planting jobs separate

Starting seeds indoors gives a plant time to develop before it moves outside. Direct sowing skips that move: you plant seed in the bed or container where it will grow. Transplanting puts an existing seedling into that final location. A calendar date needs one of these actions beside it to be useful.

If you want to grow your own starts, begin with the intended outdoor planting date and work backward using the seed packet’s instructions for that crop. The lead time is not the same for every vegetable. UMass Extension explains this backward-planning method and recommends direct sowing root crops. Its Massachusetts frost dates do not apply here. See the seed-starting explanation.

For a small first garden, it can help to write a short list with two columns: “seed to sow” and “starts to plant.” That makes your shopping list easier to use and prevents a packet of tomato seed from being mistaken for a transplant ready to go in the ground.

When to plant tomatoes in San Antonio

Use the tomato transplant row when you have a young plant ready for the garden. Use the separate seed-starting entry when you are growing that young plant yourself. Write both actions into your plan so a seed packet does not get mistaken for a start that is ready to plant.

Missed your preparation window? Check whether suitable transplants are available. Tell the nursery when you hope to plant and ask how the plants have been grown. That gives you a more useful starting point than choosing a tray only because it has fruit or flowers.

Summer planting also means establishing a small root system during hot weather. AgriLife’s fall guide advises checking moisture carefully: too little water and waterlogged soil can both set back transplants. A planting date helps you plan; it does not replace checking the plant and its root zone. AgriLife fall-garden guidance.

Why a fall vegetable garden starts before cool weather

“Fall garden” describes the season you are growing toward. Some of its work happens while summer is still underway. Waiting for comfortable autumn weather can leave too little time for a warm-season crop to mature before cold weather arrives.

Use the variety’s expected maturity and cold tolerance when choosing among crops. A quick radish crop and a large-fruited tomato have different timelines. AgriLife separates fall crops by maturity and frost tolerance, which is more useful than treating September as a single deadline for every vegetable. Compare fall crop timing.

For tender new seedlings, the move outdoors deserves its own preparation. The BCMG September checklist calls for protection from hot sun and attention to irrigation. If your plants have been grown under cover, follow our guide to hardening off seedlings before planting them into an exposed bed.

How to use this calendar in Poteet

The Bexar spring guide allows earlier spring planting south of San Antonio, with a broad adjustment of 15–25 days. That regional note does not establish a single earlier date for every Poteet yard. We have kept the published San Antonio dates in this calendar rather than silently shifting them.

Bring the crop, variety, intended planting date and your garden’s exposure to a local discussion. A sheltered bed and an open, windy plot may need different decisions. For advice specific to your location, use the Atascosa County AgriLife Extension office. Current weather and crop requirements still govern the actual planting day.

Five checks before the plants go in

1. Check the action. Are you sowing seed, starting it under cover or planting a transplant?
2. Read the actual dates. A partial-month window can close before the month ends.
3. Check the forecast and crop requirements. Compare expected temperatures with the needs of the vegetable and its growth stage.
4. Prepare the growing space. Have the soil, drainage and watering setup ready before you buy more plants.
5. Keep a record. Note the variety, date and result so next season’s plan reflects your own garden.

AgriLife’s Texas vegetable gardening guide recommends keeping garden records and preparing soil for drainage and aeration. If you are building a bed, work out your fill quantity with our raised-bed soil calculator. If you are deciding what to fill it with, see raised-bed soil versus potting mix.

Check what is available for your next planting

Bodega Gardens is a family-owned nursery in Poteet serving San Antonio-area gardeners. Tell us what you want to grow, whether you need seed or transplants, and when you hope to plant. Contact Bodega Gardens to check current plant and supply availability and arrange pickup.