Vegetable Garden Fertilizer Schedule: Feeding Chart by Crop
A vegetable garden fertilizer schedule has three parts for every crop: what goes into the bed before planting, the growth stage that triggers each side dress, and the stage that tells you to stop. Heavy feeders such as tomatoes, sweet corn, squash and cabbage get compost, a pre-plant granular and two or more side dressings. Medium feeders such as peppers, onions and lettuce get lighter, more targeted versions of the same. Light feeders such as beans, peas and radishes get compost and very little else. The chart below gives one row per crop, with a link to the full feeding guide for that crop wherever one exists.
Side dress dates count forward from your planting dates. Set those for your zone with our free planting calendar, then match each crop to its trigger below.
Updated September 2026
This page is the overview for the whole garden, meant to be printed and carried out to the beds. It does not re-explain what the three numbers on a fertilizer bag mean or how to convert a nitrogen target into pounds of product; our guide to what the numbers on fertilizer mean covers both. What it does is put every common crop on one chart, so a garden with twelve different vegetables in it runs on one plan instead of twelve.
The Three Feeder Groups
Every crop in the chart falls into one of three groups. The group sets the size of the pre-plant feed and roughly how many side dressings follow.
| Group | Crops | Before planting, per 100 sq ft | Side dressings | What the stop signal usually is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy | Tomatoes, eggplant, sweet corn, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, melons, potatoes, broccoli, cabbage | 2 to 3 in compost plus granular at 1.5 lb | Two or more, 0.5 to 1 lb each | Fruit maturing, tubers setting, heads forming |
| Medium | Peppers, onions, garlic, kale, lettuce, spinach | 2 in compost plus granular at 0.75 lb, or compost alone in rich soil | One to four light doses | Bulbing, bolting, or cold weather |
| Light | Green beans, peas, radishes, carrots, beets, most herbs | Compost only in decent soil, or 5-10-10 at 0.75 lb in poor soil | None, or one light feed | No schedule to stop |
The groups are a starting point, not a rule. A heavy feeder planted into a bed that got 3 inches of compost last fall often needs one fewer side dressing. A light feeder in thin, sandy soil may need a small pre-plant feed it would skip in a rich bed. Leaf color and growth rate are the tiebreakers.
Before Planting: The Amendment Every Bed Gets
Test the soil first, every 3 years. A soil test tells you whether the bed needs phosphorus and potassium at all, and what the pH is. Fertilizer applied to soil outside a pH of roughly 6.0 to 6.8 is partly locked up before the plant can use it. Our guide on how to test garden soil covers taking a sample that gives usable numbers.
Compost goes on every bed. Work 2 to 3 inches into the top 6 to 8 inches of a new bed, or top dress an established bed with 1 to 2 inches each year. Compost is a weak fertilizer but a strong soil builder, and it is what lets every later feeding work. Our guide on how much compost to add to garden beds gives depths and volumes by bed type.
Then the pre-plant granular, by group. Mix it into the top 6 inches 1 to 2 weeks before planting, or on planting day for transplants. Two crops get it placed rather than mixed: potatoes get it banded beside the row below the seed pieces, and carrots get it worked in well before sowing so no concentrated pocket sits in the root path.
Never fresh manure in spring. It releases nitrogen unevenly, often in a burst at the worst moment, and it causes forked, hairy carrots. Compost it for a full season first.
Scaling the rates to your bed
Granular fertilizer runs about half a pound per cup, so the per-100 rates convert like this:
| Bed size | Heavy pre-plant, 1.5 lb per 100 sq ft | Medium pre-plant, 0.75 lb per 100 sq ft | Side dress, 0.5 lb per 100 sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 by 4 ft (16 sq ft) | About 1/2 cup | About 1/4 cup | About 2 1/2 tbsp |
| 4 by 8 ft (32 sq ft) | About 1 cup | About 1/2 cup | About 1/3 cup |
| 4 by 12 ft (48 sq ft) | About 1 1/2 cups | About 3/4 cup | About 1/2 cup |
| 10 by 10 ft (100 sq ft) | About 3 cups | About 1 1/2 cups | About 1 cup |
| 20 by 20 ft (400 sq ft) | About 12 cups | About 6 cups | About 4 cups |
The Vegetable Garden Fertilizer Schedule by Crop
One row per crop. Each "full guide" link goes to the page with that crop's rates, worked examples and container version.
| Crop | Group | Before planting | Side dress when | Stop feeding when | Full guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tomatoes | Heavy | Compost plus 5-10-10 at 1.5 lb | First fruit set, when fruit on the lowest cluster is marble size, then every 3 weeks | 6 weeks before first fall frost | When to fertilize tomatoes |
| Peppers | Medium | Compost plus a light 5-10-10 in the planting hole | First fruit set, then a low-nitrogen feed every 2 to 3 weeks | 6 weeks before first fall frost | How to grow peppers |
| Eggplant | Heavy | Compost plus 5-10-10 at 1.5 lb | First fruit set, then every 3 weeks | 6 weeks before first fall frost | Same timing as tomatoes |
| Cucumbers | Heavy | Compost plus 10-10-10 at 1.5 lb | Vines start to run at 4 to 6 true leaves; switch to 5-10-10 at first female flowers, every 2 to 3 weeks | Last 2 to 3 weeks of production | When to fertilize cucumbers |
| Zucchini and summer squash | Heavy | Compost plus 10-10-10 worked in at sowing | Plant a foot across, then every 2 to 3 weeks; 5-10-10 once fruit sets | Production slowing in late summer | How to grow zucchini |
| Pumpkins and winter squash | Heavy | 2 to 3 in compost plus balanced granular | Vines start to run, and again at first female flowers | Fruit at full size and starting to color | When to plant pumpkins |
| Melons | Heavy | Compost plus balanced granular | Vines start to run; low-nitrogen feed at first fruit set | 2 to 3 weeks before expected harvest | No separate guide yet |
| Sweet corn | Heavy | Compost plus 10-10-10 at 1.5 lb | Knee high at 8 to 10 leaves, and again as tassels emerge | Silks appear | No separate guide yet |
| Potatoes | Heavy | 10-10-10 at 1.5 lb banded beside the seed pieces | First hilling at 6 to 8 in, then a high-potassium feed at tuber set | Nitrogen stops at first flower | When to fertilize potatoes |
| Broccoli | Heavy | 3 to 4 in compost plus balanced granular | 3 and 6 weeks after transplant; balanced feed when the head shows | Main head cut, except a light feed to push side shoots | How to grow broccoli |
| Cabbage | Heavy | 2 to 4 in compost plus balanced granular | 3 and 6 weeks after transplant | After the second side dress | How to grow cabbage |
| Onions | Medium | 2 to 3 in compost, phosphorus only if a test calls for it | Small nitrogen doses every 2 to 3 weeks from 3 weeks after transplant | Bulbing starts | When to fertilize onions |
| Garlic | Medium | 1 to 2 in compost at fall planting | Nitrogen as spring growth takes off, again 3 to 4 weeks later | Scapes appear | When to plant garlic |
| Kale | Medium | 2 to 3 in compost | 4 weeks after transplant, again 4 weeks later | Hard freezes stop growth | How to grow kale |
| Lettuce | Medium | 2 in compost | Diluted liquid feed every 2 to 3 weeks, and after each cutting | Bolting begins | How to grow lettuce |
| Spinach | Medium | 2 to 3 in compost | Liquid feed every 2 to 3 weeks, and after each cutting | Bolting begins | How to grow spinach |
| Carrots | Light | 5-10-10 worked in before sowing, no fresh manure | One light side dress around week 5, only if growth is slow | After that single feed | How to grow carrots |
| Beets | Light | Compost worked in the season before | One light low-nitrogen feed at thinning, only in poor soil | After thinning | How to grow beets |
| Radishes | Light | Nothing in decent soil | None | No schedule | How to grow radishes |
| Green beans | Light | Compost, or 5-10-10 at half rate in poor soil | None, and never high nitrogen | No schedule | How to grow green beans |
| Peas | Light | Phosphorus and potassium only if a test calls for them | None | No schedule | How to grow peas |
| Herbs | Light | Compost for basil and parsley, nothing for thyme, rosemary and oregano | Basil only, a diluted feed every 3 to 4 weeks | Mediterranean herbs are never fed | How to grow herbs |
Side Dress Timing: The Growth Stages That Trigger a Feed
The chart ties every side dress to something you can see in the bed, because a cold spring or a hot one moves the calendar by two weeks or more. A cucumber sown into 62F soil runs later than the same variety sown into 72F soil, and a date-based feeding lands on the wrong plant. These six triggers cover nearly every crop.
| Trigger | What it looks like | Crops | Why the feed lands here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vines start to run | The plant stops looking like a rosette and sends a stem sideways or up the trellis | Cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, melons | Leaf area built now powers every fruit later |
| First fruit set | A small fruit swelling behind a withered flower | Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini | The fruit load starts drawing on the plant's reserves |
| First hilling | Potato shoots 6 to 8 inches tall | Potatoes | The fastest leaf growth of the season, and the hill buries the feed |
| Knee high | Corn at 8 to 10 leaves | Sweet corn | Nitrogen uptake climbs steeply ahead of tasseling |
| 3 weeks after transplant | New growth resumed after the move | Broccoli, cabbage, onions | Leaves built now set head or bulb size |
| After each cutting | Leaves regrowing from the crown | Lettuce, spinach, broccoli side shoots | The plant is rebuilding leaves from scratch |
Close enough is fine. Feeding within 3 or 4 days of a trigger does the same job. If two beds hit their triggers in the same week, feed them on the same day.
Always water it in. Nutrients move into roots dissolved in soil water. Scratch the granules into the top inch, 4 to 6 inches out from the stems, and water the band the same day.
Handle the products sensibly around food and pets. Scratch granules in and water them down rather than leaving them loose on the surface where a crop is already bearing, keep them off leaves and off anything you will pick within a day or two, and rinse harvested produce. Blood meal, bone meal, and fish emulsion smell like food to a dog, and a dog that eats a mouthful of meal straight from the bag or digs up a freshly side dressed row can end up seriously ill, so store the bags closed and out of reach and work the material into the soil rather than leaving a visible band. Wear gloves, keep dust out of your face when you pour, and wash your hands before you eat.
When to Stop Feeding
The stop signal matters as much as the start, because late fertilizer does active harm on several crops rather than simply going to waste.
| Stop signal | Crops | What feeding past it causes |
|---|---|---|
| First flower (nitrogen only) | Potatoes | Vines keep growing at the tubers' expense, poor skins, hollow heart |
| Bulbing starts | Onions, garlic | Thick necks that never seal, bulbs that rot in storage |
| Head forming or firm | Cabbage, broccoli main head | Split cabbage heads, loose ricey broccoli |
| Silks appear | Sweet corn | Nothing gained; ear size is already set |
| 6 weeks before first fall frost | Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant | Leaves and flowers that never become ripe fruit |
| Last 2 to 3 weeks of production | Cucumbers, zucchini | Fertilizer the plant has no time to use |
| Fruit at full size | Pumpkins, melons | Delayed ripening, and melons that taste watery |
| Bolting begins | Lettuce, spinach | Nothing; bolting cannot be reversed |
Fall crops follow the same logic. Kale, cabbage and broccoli planted in late summer keep their side dressings through September, then stop once nights start freezing hard and growth stalls. After cleanup, a fall top dress of compost is the only thing the beds need until spring.
Worked Example: A Three-Bed Garden Through One Season, Zone 6
Three 4 by 8 foot raised beds, 32 square feet each. Last frost May 10, first fall frost October 15. Bed 1 holds four indeterminate tomatoes. Bed 2 holds eight vining cucumbers on a center trellis. Bed 3 holds three 8 foot rows of long-day onion transplants on one half and bush beans on the other.
| Date | Bed | Task | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 1 | 3 | 2 in compost over the bed | About 5.3 cu ft |
| Apr 15 | 3 | Transplant onions | None |
| May 6 | 3 | Onion side dress 1, 10-10-10 along the rows | About 1 1/4 cups across 24 ft of row |
| May 20 | 1 | Transplant tomatoes, 5-10-10 mixed in | About 1 cup |
| May 20 | 3 | Sow bush beans | None |
| May 23 | 3 | Onion side dress 2 | About 1 1/4 cups |
| May 25 | 2 | Cucumber bed prep, 10-10-10 mixed in | About 1 cup |
| Jun 1 | 2 | Sow cucumbers | None |
| Jun 9 | 3 | Onion side dress 3 | About 1 1/4 cups |
| Jun 20 | 3 | Onions bulbing, stop | None |
| Jun 24 | 2 | Vines running, 10-10-10 side dress | About 1/3 cup |
| Jun 26 | 1 | First fruit set, 5-10-10 side dress | About 2/3 cup |
| Jul 12 | 2 | First female flowers, switch to 5-10-10 | About 2/3 cup |
| Jul 17 | 1 | Tomato side dress | About 2/3 cup |
| Aug 1 | 2 | Cucumber fruiting feed | About 2/3 cup |
| Aug 7 | 1 | Tomato side dress | About 2/3 cup |
| Aug 22 | 2 | Cucumber fruiting feed | About 2/3 cup |
| Aug 28 | 1 | Final tomato side dress | About 2/3 cup |
| Sep 3 | 1 | Tomato stop date | None |
| Sep 10 | 2 | Cucumbers tailing off, stop | None |
| Oct 20 | All | 1 to 2 in compost after cleanup | About 2.7 to 5.3 cu ft per bed |
Season totals. About 5 cups of 10-10-10 and about 5 2/3 cups of 5-10-10 for all three beds, roughly 2.5 and 2.8 pounds. The bean half of Bed 3 got nothing but the April compost, which is exactly what beans want.
What the calendar shows. Onions finish their feeding before the tomatoes start theirs, so spring feeding days cluster in Bed 3 and summer feeding days alternate between Beds 1 and 2. Nothing is fed after September 10. The fall compost carries the beds into next spring.
Containers and Raised Beds Change the Rhythm
Containers. Every watering washes nutrients out the drainage holes. Mix a slow-release granular into the potting mix at planting, then give heavy feeders a half-strength liquid feed every 7 to 10 days from their first trigger, and leafy crops the same every 2 to 3 weeks. The stop signals do not change. Our container gardening guide covers pot sizes and mix.
New raised beds. A bed filled this spring with a compost-rich mix usually needs no pre-plant granular in its first year and often one fewer side dressing. Watch leaf color and start the side dress schedule the first time growth slows.
Sandy soil. Split every side dress into two smaller doses a week or so apart. Sand holds little, and a single dose washes below the roots in the first heavy rain.
Heavy clay. Clay holds nutrients well but drains slowly. Skip a side dress while the bed is waterlogged, since roots sitting in saturated soil cannot take anything up.
Organic Swaps for the Chart
The chart's triggers and stop signals stay the same in an organic garden; only the products change. Our organic gardening tips guide lists how fast each material releases.
| Where the chart calls for | Organic swap | Rate per 100 sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| Balanced pre-plant granular | Balanced organic vegetable blend, or alfalfa meal | Blend at label rate, or 2 to 3 lb alfalfa meal |
| Nitrogen side dress | Blood meal or feather meal | About 0.5 lb, watered in |
| Low-nitrogen fruiting feed | Kelp meal plus a 1 in ring of compost | 1 lb kelp meal |
| Liquid feed | Fish emulsion | Label rate every 2 weeks |
| Potassium at potato tuber set | Sulfate of potash | 0.5 lb |
Organic materials need warm, biologically active soil to release, so apply pre-plant amendments a week or two ahead of planting in cool spring soil.
Common Schedule Mistakes
Feeding the whole garden on one day. A single spring feeding day gives nitrogen to beans that do not want it, carrots that fork from it, and tomatoes that are not ready for it, while shortchanging cucumbers a month later.
Feeding legumes. Beans and peas make their own nitrogen. Extra gives lush vines and few pods.
Treating root crops like leaf crops. Carrots, beets and radishes given nitrogen grow magnificent tops over small roots.
Missing the stop signals. Late nitrogen on onions and potatoes ruins storage quality, and a September feed on tomatoes grows flowers that frost will kill.
Adding phosphorus every year without a test. Bone meal by habit builds phosphorus levels that take years to draw down.
Feeding dry soil. Granules on dry ground do nothing until the next rain, then arrive all at once. Water after every feeding.
FAQ
How often should I fertilize my vegetable garden?
It depends on the crop, which is the point of a schedule by crop. Heavy fruiting crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers get a side dress every 2 to 3 weeks once fruit sets. Brassicas get two side dressings, 3 weeks apart. Onions get small doses every 2 to 3 weeks until bulbing. Beans, peas and radishes usually get nothing after the bed is prepared.
When should I fertilize my vegetable garden in spring?
Work compost and the pre-plant granular into each bed 1 to 2 weeks before that bed is planted, not all at once on the first warm weekend. A bed of onions set out in April and a bed of cucumbers sown in June should be prepared on different dates. Organic amendments go in a little earlier, since they release slowly in cool soil.
Which vegetables need the most fertilizer?
Tomatoes, eggplant, sweet corn, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, melons, potatoes, broccoli and cabbage are the heavy feeders. They build a large amount of leaf and fruit, tuber or head in a single season. Each gets compost, a pre-plant feed at the full rate, and two or more side dressings timed to a growth stage.
Which vegetables should not be fertilized?
Beans and peas need no nitrogen, because they fix their own. Radishes need nothing in decent soil. Carrots and beets want only a light low-nitrogen feed at most. Thyme, rosemary and oregano grow better flavor in lean soil and are best left unfed. In all of these, extra nitrogen grows leaves at the expense of the part you harvest.
Do I need to fertilize a raised bed vegetable garden?
Less in the first year, more after that. A bed filled with a compost-rich mix usually carries its first season without a pre-plant granular, though heavy feeders still benefit from side dressings once fruit sets. From the second year on, top dress with 1 to 2 inches of compost each fall and follow the chart as for any other bed.
Should I fertilize my vegetable garden in fall?
Only fall crops that are still growing, such as kale, cabbage and broccoli, and only until hard freezes stop their growth. Summer crops should already be past their stop dates. Once beds are cleared, spread 1 to 2 inches of compost as a top dress instead of granular fertilizer, so the soil is ready for spring.
Can I use one fertilizer for the whole vegetable garden?
A 5-10-10 comes close for most of it, working for fruiting crops, root crops and a pre-plant feed in beds without a soil test. It falls short for leafy crops, onions and sweet corn, which want nitrogen-forward side dressings, and it is unnecessary for beans and peas. Two products, one balanced or low nitrogen and one nitrogen only, cover nearly every row in the chart.
Updated September 2026
