What is the best month to plant in Jamaica?

The start of the two rainy seasons — April/May and September/October — are the easiest times to establish a garden, because rainfall does most of the watering while seedlings root in.

Can I grow vegetables in Jamaica during the dry season?

Yes — December to March is actually prime time for tomatoes, sweet peppers, carrots and lettuce, because there's less fungal disease. You just have to water consistently.

What should I plant during hurricane season?

Favour fast, low crops you can harvest within 4–8 weeks — callaloo, pak choi, radish, beans — and stagger small sowings rather than betting one big planting against a storm.

📅 Jamaica Planting Calendar — What to Plant Every Month

Seeds Jamaica Growing Guides · Updated August 2026 · 7 min read

Jamaica doesn't have winter — we have rhythms. Two rainy seasons, a dry stretch, and a hurricane season to plan around. Learn the rhythm and you can pull food from the same yard twelve months of the year. Here's the calendar we plant by.

The year at a glance

December–March (dry season): cooler nights, low disease pressure. Prime time for tomatoes, sweet peppers, carrots, lettuce and cabbage — if you can water.
April–June (first rains): the big planting window. Almost everything establishes easily now.
July–August (mid-summer break): hot, often dry-ish, and the start of hurricane season. Lean on heat-lovers and quick crops.
September–November (second rains): the second big window — and peak storm season, so plant in stages, not all at once.

Month by month

Month	Sow now	Notes
January	Tomato, sweet pepper, carrot, lettuce, cabbage, beet, string beans	Cool-loving crops shine. Water is your only job.
February	Tomato, carrot, pak choi, cucumber, melon, callaloo	Driest month for much of the island — mulch everything.
March	Pumpkin, watermelon, cucumber, okra, callaloo, hot peppers (in trays)	Start Scotch Bonnet trays now to transplant with the April rains.
April	Almost everything: pumpkin, corn, beans, okra, callaloo, cucumber, pepper transplants	First rains begin — the easiest establishment of the year.
May	Corn, beans, sweet potato slips, okra, melons, herbs	Peak rainy planting. Watch for slugs on young seedlings.
June	Callaloo, pak choi, okra, hot peppers, sorrel	Sow sorrel now–July for Christmas harvest.
July	Callaloo, okra, cucumber, beans (quick types), sorrel	Heat-lovers only. Stagger small sowings — storm season opens.
August	Callaloo, pak choi, radish, beans	Fast, low crops you can harvest inside 4–8 weeks.
September	Tomato & pepper trays, callaloo, cucumber, pumpkin	Second rains begin; keep tray seedlings somewhere storm-safe.
October	Tomato transplants, cabbage, carrot, beans, lettuce	Big open window as storm risk fades late-month.
November	Tomato, sweet pepper, carrot, cabbage, beet, lettuce, herbs	Set up the dry-season garden now while soil is still moist.
December	Lettuce, carrot, radish, herbs, more tomato	Cool nights = crisp salads. Sorrel harvest time. 🇯🇲

💡 Hurricane-season rule: never bet the whole garden on one sowing between July and October. Plant a little every two weeks instead — a storm can only take one wave, not all of them.

Crops that ignore the calendar

Some things simply grow all year in Jamaica, any month you drop seed: callaloo, okra, hot peppers (once established), sweet potato, and most herbs — thyme, basil, mint, escallion. When in doubt, plant these.

Your parish matters

This calendar fits most lowland gardens. If you're in the cool hills — upper St. Andrew, Manchester, Portland interior — you can stretch "dry-season" crops like lettuce, carrot and cabbage across more of the year. Coastal and southern plains gardeners (St. Elizabeth, we see you) should double down on mulch and drought-tough crops in Feb–March.

Everything on this calendar is in the shop

Every pack J$400 — vegetables, herbs and Jamaican favorites, delivered island-wide.

Shop seeds →

And when rain stops play, keep your green thumb warm in Likkle Farm — our free browser farming game. 🎮