What to Plant in February by Zone
Today, it’s all about what to plant in February. It’s the perfect time to get a jump start on your gardening! In some areas, you can begin planting outdoors in February.
However, in other areas, you will want to start with your plants indoors and move them outside as the weather warms. Below, you will learn what you can plant by zone in February.
Not sure what zone you live in? You can find your zone, here! Knowing what zone you live in is key to planting things that will thrive in your area. Below, I will give you a list of fruits, vegetables, and herbs that you can plant in each zone starting in February.
In zones 1-4, you will only be able to plant indoor plants. It is much too cold to start planting anything outside yet. One thing that you can plant indoors in any zone is herbs. Herbs are great plants that you can plant and harvest indoors in any zone.
Additionally, you can plant the following indoors during February:
Zones 5 & 6 are still colder than zones 7-10. In addition to planting herbs inside, you can plant some of the following inside your home:
In the spring, you can move your indoor plants outdoors. For zones 1-3, this is usually around April. For zones 4-6, this is around March.
You can plant various things outside in zones 7-10 during February. The weather is warmer in these zones than in 1-6. It is still a little cooler in zone 7-10, but still warmer than most parts of the U.S. So, you will want to plant cool-weather vegetables outdoors. These crops include:
If you live in an area that you can’t plant outdoors quite yet, there are still things you can do to get your garden ready for spring. Here are some tips for getting it ready:
As long as there isn’t snow on the ground, you can start pulling out weeds. Sometimes weeds sprout up in the cool weather, or you may see some leftover weeds from last year. Eliminating them now while the ground is still soft makes this task much easier. If the ground is still frozen you may have to wait a while to accomplish this step.
In February, you can go out and prune shrubs and other plants. Cut back leaves that have died. Cut off branches that are longer than they should be. If you have no use for the plant, dig it up.
Once the ground has thawed, you can apply a granular fertilizer around trees, shrubs, and perennials. You can also fertilize your garden to prepare it for planting. Do a soil test if you are unsure what your dirt needs.
If you didn’t get all the leaves up before winter hit, now is the time to get those up. Rake leaves that have blown under trees, around trees and shrubs, and in your garden. This is a great time to get the rest of your yard cleaned up.
Did you have a crabgrass or weed problem last year? If you did, now is the time to start preventing these problems before the growing season. You can apply crabgrass control, lawn food, and a granular weed preventer. This will help you when you decide to start planting.
Winter is the perfect time to cut sharp edges along your garden beds. This makes your landscape look better, and creates a lip for you to contain mulch that can be applied when the soil warms up.
Choose your plants and seeds in February. Begin planting seeds inside if you can’t plant them outside. Choose plants and seeds that will need to be planted indoors 6-8 weeks before spring so they will be ready when it warms up. This is where I buy my seeds: SeedsNow
If you live in an area that is still too cold to plant outdoors, you can start your seeds indoors. And, some plants, such as tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers, actually do better being started indoors. If you are new to gardening, follow the steps below to start your seeds indoors:
Buy some seed-starting mix to start your indoor garden. This isn’t actually soil, but it provides almost perfect conditions for sprouting seeds.
You can use any pots as long as they have holes in the container to drain the water. Proper drainage ensures the seeds do not get too much water.
You want to plant your seeds deep enough, but not too deep. To ensure you are planting them just right, plant them 2-3 times deeper than the seed is wide.
All you need is a paintbrush or cotton swab (see above). If you need to hand pollinate because you are not seeing any fruit develop, here is something you may want to try. You do this by removing the male blossom (male blossoms do not have fruit behind them). They produce pollen leaving the center covered in the pollen to collect with the brush or swab. Use a brush or swab to apply the pollen you collected to the center of the female flower. This works for squash, melons, and cucumbers every time.
Whether you can begin planting outside where you live, you can begin preparing your garden for the spring. Keeping a garden and continuing to maintain it is key to being prepared.
You have an upper hand when you have a garden because you don’t have to rely on store-bought food. Please try gardening this year, we can do this. May God bless this world, Linda
Copyright Images:
Tomatoes: Depositphotos_162343634_s-2019, Onions: Depositphotos_8247368_s-2019, Vegetables: Depositphotos_179593250_s-2019, Lettuce: Depositphotos_4125122_s-2019, Garden Soil: Depositphotos_114907692_s-2019
Great article!! Thanks for reminding me what I need to be doing right now.
Hi Marisol, awesome! Let’s grow our own food! Linda
Here is something I thought of right out of the blue. In the event of a nuclear holocaust how will anyone be able to grow anything except self-pollinating plants? Bees and birds will be extinct or close to it.
Hi Robert, where I live in Utah bees are almost never around here anymore. I started writing and showing pictures of how to pollinate the vegetables ourselves. You can use a sable paintbrush or a Q-tip. Let me snag the post for you. I’m also in the process of learning to really grow food inside my home. I have seen blogs written but no pictures of how it REALLY works. I am a visual person so I will be showing you over the next few months what we can grow inside our homes next to windows of course with sunshine. Stay tuned, Linda https://www.foodstoragemoms.com/plant-in-july/
We moved to the country a couple years ago and have a lot more room now. I always had a garden in town. This year we are going to have 3 beds. One main veggie bed, one watermelon patch and one pumpkin patch. I have two kids and I feel like this is one of the more important things I can teach them. They also have learned how to preserve the food we grow.
Hi Erin, this is so awesome, what a great example you are to those little ones. PLUS teaching to preserve your harvest is so awesome! Linda
When you refer to planting outdoors, are these seeds or starter plants from a nursery/garden center? Seeing as we just had an icy weekend, I’m just not sure…
Hi Kat, either one. I start with seeds. Then I transplant the starters when the weather is ready. Weather is tricky sometimes and I have to be ready to work around the freezes. I also bought some domes to protect them outside. Linda
I love that my kids are engaged in gardening. You give great tips here to help our garden be successful. Thanks for the great resource
Hi Hannah, thank you for your kind words. I love hearing your kid’s garden with you!! It’s such a great skill. Linda
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I’m Linda Loosli. I’m the owner and editor of Food Storage Moms. I’m so happy you’ve found us. Our goal at Food Storage Moms is to help “one family at a time.”
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What to Plant in February by Zone
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