20 Fast-Growing Vegetables (Spring or Fall)

There are plenty of delicious fast-growing vegetables you can grow in the cooler months of spring and fall. Most of the suggestions on this list grow from seed to harvest in just six weeks or less. For a variety of leafy greens to carrots, beets, radishes, and peas, grab some seeds and start sowing.

If you are new to food growing, How to Grow Your First Vegetable Garden (Right Now) walks through everything you need to get started.

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Vegetables That Grow Fast

Spring and fall are the perfect time to grow some cool-tolerant, fast-growing vegetables. Use the tips below to choose your seeds and get started.

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Contents

• Getting Started
  • When Should I Sow?
  • Can I Grow in Containers?
• 20 Quick-Growing Vegetables
• Resources
  • Printable List
  • Seed Sowing Tips
  • Seed Shop

Getting Started

Most fast-growing vegetables all have something in common and once you know this simple tip, it’s easy to know which vegetables to grow. The quickest growers are generally cool-tolerant and do not need to flower or fruit before we eat them.

The vegetables we grow can be divided into two basic botanical groups. You can read more on which vegetables need help from pollinators here.

1) Fruits and berries with seeds.
These generally prefer warmer temperatures and require pollination.
Examples include beans, squashes, tomatoes, and eggplant.

2) Vegetable leaves, stems, roots, and immature flowers.
These generally prefer cooler temperatures and do not require pollination.
Examples include beets, leafy greens, pea shoots, and radishes.

It’s this second group that contains a lot of quick-growing options ideal for sowing in spring or late summer.

They are also excellent choices for succession planting where we start new crops as soon as others are finishing up, or underplanting where we tuck in some extra selections below the canopy of other slow-growing plants.

The beautiful thing about these fast-growing crops is you do not have to wait for flowering or fruiting. All of them can be eaten from the moment they sprout as seedlings onward. This is something often overlooked by many gardeners.

We get ‘days to maturity’ in our heads and somehow think that we need to wait that entire length of time before harvesting. And yes, waiting often means you get more food for your efforts, but harvesting earlier can bring its own taste rewards.

A good example is broccoli. You can grow the seeds just for the shoots and they are ready within a week or two. Wait a bit longer and you’ve got tender, flavorful stems and leaves. And yes, the leaves taste just like the florets! Traditionally, we hold off until the plant starts to bud. That “head” of broccoli we buy at the grocery store is really countless immature florets, picked and consumed before it fully flowers. That’s a lot of harvesting options throughout the growth cycle.

Other crops like leafy greens are also edible at any stage prior to flowering. Plus, many of them are “cut-and-come-again” meaning you can harvest some individual leaves (by snipping them near the base with scissors) for your salads and the plant will continue growing, providing more. Sometimes it’s hard to decide between larger spinach leaves and those smaller but oh-so-tender baby greens, but there is no reason why you can’t enjoy some of each.

This has ideas for vegetables to forage throughout the growing season.

When Should I Sow?

The ideal times are spring and late-summer so long as you have the right growing conditions.

The best time to sow varies with each plant, but very generally, if your soil temperature is consistently between 50 to 68 °F  (10 to 20° C) many cool-tolerant, fast-growing crops will germinate.

Where I live here in Ontario, Canada, our summers get hot and humid and these cool-tolerant crops tend to bolt (prematurely produce seed and become inedible) during the summer months. Because of this, I like to grow the quick-growers in spring or late-summer or early fall when temperatures are more reasonable.

Here, summer is the time for warmth-loving crops like tomatoes and eggplants to flower—and attract the pollinators needed to produce fruit. The slow-growing vegetables like winter squashes also need this time for pollinators to find them.

The quick-growing ones will be ready in no time if you can avoid the heat.

If you would a complete sowing plan, see my week-by-week vegetable seed sowing plan here.

Can I Grow Quick-Growing Vegetables in Containers?

Yes! Every one of these vegetables can grow in containers. I grow most of mine in pots and the advantage is you can move them around as needed.

Choose pots at least 8-inches deep and be sure they have adequate drainage. Use organic potting mix intended for vegetables and keep everything watered. These fast-growers can get really thirsty.

If you want to add in some fast-growing flowering annuals, there are plenty of options.

20 Quick-Growing Vegetables

I’ve provided general information here but please also check your seed packets for specific growing instructions, expected germination rates, and days to maturity. With so many varieties available, there can be lots of variations.

As mentioned, everything is edible from seedling stage onward. The seed to harvest days tell you when you’re reaching the end of the growth cycle.

You can buy sets of quick-growing vegetables from the seed shop here.

Light Exposure Definitions

Full Sun To Shade: How To Assess Light Conditions In Your Garden: this explains various light conditions and how to assess the sun exposure in your garden.

1Arugula | Rocket

2Beets

3Broccoli Raab | Rapini | Rabi

4Carrots

Pest control tip: If you are worried about carrot flies (Chamaepsila rosae), consider planting your carrots, parsnips, parsley, and celery crops in tall raised beds or containers up off the ground. This fly is believed to only reach up to 18-inches above ground so planting up high may thwart this pest.

5Endive | Chicory | Radicchio

6Kale

Notes

• If you’re not a big fan of kale, try harvesting early when the leaves are still tender. You may change your mind! They are also delicious in soups!

7Kolhrabi

8Leaf Lettuce

9Mâche/ Corn salad

10Mesclun Mix

11Microgreens

12Mizuna

13Mustard Greens

14Onion Greens | Scallions

15Pak Choi | Bok Choy

16Peas & Pea Shoots

17Radish

18Spinach

19Sunflower Shoots

20Swiss Chard

21Tatsoi | Tah Tsai

22Turnips

Resources

Printable List

Seed Sowing Tips

• Order your seeds right away to you have them right when needed. Timing is important.
• Read all of the seed packets for sowing tips. Note any special sowing instructions (e.g. pea seeds can be pre-soaked in water to encourage germination).
• In fall, sow at least six weeks before first expected frost.
• In spring, for outdoor sowing, start when the garden soil temperature is favorable (this has more on soil temperatures).
• Cool-tolerant veggie seeds (generally) need soil temperatures of 50 to 68 °F (10 to 20° C) to germinate.
• If there is risk of frost or near-freezing temperatures, have covers on hand to protect your seedlings. Options include frost cloths (floating row covers), cloches, mulch including straw, or growing in cold frames or polytunnels.
• For continuous harvests, sow new batches of the fastest-growing crops like leafy greens every two weeks.
• Keep notes in your garden journal tracking sowing dates, conditions, best/worst crops, recommendations for next time, save seed packets, and take photos.
• If you love cool weather gardening, consider growing your veggies right through the winter. This list of 10 Vegetables to Grow in Winter will get you started.
  

Seed Shop

If you’re looking for easy seed selections, these sets from Botanical Interests have good variety of fast-growers for the cool seasons along with the traditional slower growing varieties.

• Baby Greens Sampler Collection (5 Varieties)
• Basic Bounty Vegetable Collection (7 reliable veggies)
• Container Vegetable Collection (10 selections)
• Chef’s Herb Garden Collection (9 herbs)

Want to find a local seed seller? Use the listings in the links below to find ones in your area.

• Canadian Seed Company Directory
• United States Seed Company Directory

Happy gardening,

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛