Moving into December in Tucson, we say goodbye to the warm season! If the first frost hasn't come yet, it will any day now.

broccoli mini burgundy sprouts in soil blocks in 1020 tray
December is a great month to get the jump on the 2nd cycle slow-growing broccoli.

Weather

You can hang onto tomatoes and peppers with frost cloth if you want to fight that fight, but I let go of the warm season crops. They're gone, and my focus is on the cool season.

tucson average temperatures chart for december
Tucson average daily high drops from 69F to 65F over the month of December.
Overnight average lows drop from 45F to 42F during December.

Winter rains probably won't start yet, but they're on the horizon to help water your garden through the cool season.

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summer squash and zucchini frost damage brown leaves iced
Summer squash and zucchini killed by the first winter frost
Radishes and chard were undercropped to get the jump on cool season

You've got months and months of cool season to go, so getting into a groove planting and harvesting is a great use of December.

I try to get ahead on my indoor seedlings, so that I can continue to supply my garden with replacements as each plant finishes and is harvested.

Planting

Cover Crops & Forage

1st Half of December

Broadcast Outdoors:


Direct Sow / Drill Outdoors:

2nd Half of December

Broadcast Outdoors:


Direct Sow / Drill Outdoors:

Herbs

1st Half of December

Sow Indoors:


Direct Sow Outdoors:


Harden Off & Transplant Out:


2nd Half of December

Sow Indoors:


Direct Sow Outdoors:


Harden Off & Transplant Out:


Fruits & Vegetables

1st Half of December

Sow Indoors:


Direct Sow Outdoors:


Harden Off & Transplant Out:


2nd Half of December

Sow Indoors:


Direct Sow Outdoors:


Harden Off & Transplant Out:


Grains, Seeds, & Cereals

1st Half of December

Broadcast Outdoors:


2nd Half of December

Broadcast Outdoors:


Flowers

1st Half of December

Broadcast Outdoors:


Direct Sow Outdoors:


Plant From Bulb / Corm:


2nd Half of December

Broadcast Outdoors:


Direct Sow Outdoors:


Plant From Bulb / Corm:


Harvesting

Produce

1st Half of December

  • Bok Choy
  • Cowpea
  • Corn
  • Lettuce
  • Melon
  • Mizuna
  • Okra
  • Peppers
  • Potato
  • Pumpkin
  • Radish
  • Spinach
  • Squash
  • Tepary
  • Tomato
  • Turnip

(Whether you're still harvesting warm season crops in early-December depends on when the first frost comes)


2nd Half of December

  • Bok Choy
  • Lettuce
  • Mizuna
  • Radish
  • Spinach
  • Turnip


Seed Saving

1st Half of December

  • Cowpea
  • Corn
  • Melon
  • Okra
  • Peppers
  • Pumpkin
  • Squash
  • Tepary
  • Tomato


2nd Half of December


Cut Flowers

1st Half of December


2nd Half of December


Weeding

If you don't have a hand-weeder, check out this cool Korean Homi. It's a hand hoe / weeding sickle that I use for just about everything.

More Tucson Planting Calendars

« November   

Check out the Tucson
planting calendar for November


« November Planting Calendar  

   January »

Check out the Tucson
planting calendar for January


  January Planting Calendar »

All Months

Find the full list of Tucson monthly planting calendars here


All Monthly Calendars

Know some plants I missed for December in Tucson? W'd love to hear from you over on the forum!


That's all for now, thanks for reading!

If you have any questions, comments, or would like to connect with fellow gardeners, head on over to the forum and post there.