What to Plant in August (Houston / Zone 9B)

This episode airs mid-August — the 16th, to be exact — so it's arriving right in the sweet spot for both planting phases. August isn't just back-to-school month — it's back-to-gardening month! In this episode, Vandhana talks about why organic gardening can feel intimidating (and the real reason she became a garden coach), then breaks down Houston's two-phase August planting month: starting cool season seeds indoors now vs. moving warm season transplants outside later this month. Plus, a note for listeners outside the Houston area on how to find planting dates specific to their part of Texas.

In This Episode

• Why August is "back to gardening" season, not just back to school
• Why organic, no-spray gardening feels intimidating — and what to do about it
• The real reason Vandhana became a garden designer & coach
• Why Texas/Houston planting seasons don't follow the calendar you'll find online
• Phase 1 : Starting cool season seeds indoors or in full shade
• Phase 2 : Moving warm season transplants outdoors once nights cool down
• The full plant-by-plant list — seed vs. transplant, for both phases
• A peek at what's inside the Vibrant Garden Experience 

Quick Reference: What to Plant in August

Start indoors / full shade NOW (seed): Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kale, Collards, Basil

Move outside later this month (transplant): Fall Tomatoes, Sweet/Hot Peppers, Eggplants, Cucumbers, Rosemary, Lemongrass, Rudbeckia, Pentas/Gazania, Salvia

Seed or transplant, later this month: Okra, Marigold, Zinnia, Melons, Summer/Winter Squash

Seed, later this month: Bush/Pole/Long Beans, Sunflowers

Slips, later this month: Sweet Potatoes

Links & Resources

• 📋 Download the full August Planting Guide graphic
• 🌱 Join the Vibrant Garden Experience Waitlist — https://www.vibrantrainbowgardens.com/texas-organic-gardening-course
• 📸 Follow along on Instagram: @VibrantRainbowGardens 
• 🎥 Subscribe on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/@VibrantRainbowGardens

Connect with Vandhana

Vibrant Rainbow Gardens | Houston/Pearland, TX 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Hi everybody, welcome back to the show. Okay, real talk. It is hot enough to fry an egg on my patio right now. I don't know about you, but the last thing I want to do after walking from my car to my front door is actually go stand in my garden. It is brutal out there. So if you have been avoiding your garden, I see you. I am not judging. I'm right there with you. But here's the thing cooler weather is coming. Maybe not this week, maybe not even this month. But those nights are going to start shifting. And August, believe it or not, is actually one of the most important planning and planting months in the Houston area. Okay, today I'm going to walk with you through exactly what to plant in August, why this month is really split into two completely different uh phases. So this episode will be airing mid-August. So if you're catching this live, you're right in the sweet spot for both of these faces. Stick with me. Because if you planned the wrong thing at the wrong time this month, you're going to be super disappointed. Come October. Let's can get into it. You know, everybody thinks August has back to school month. Yes, my kids are getting back to school this month. I'm super excited, they are super excited. We have been shopping non-stop for backpacks for um they are as obsessed as uh me with all their pencils and uh stationeries and notebooks. So we've been like uh been shopping on those, and then of course, we are also buying new clothes. Uh well they grew out of all their old clothes, so that's not an option for me. That's basically our energy right now. New schedules, new backpacks, it's a full whole of chaotic energy, but we are getting ready to settle down. But I wanna think, I want you to think of August as something else too. Back to gardening month, back to your own growing, uh, growing your own food month. For a lot of people, I know it is actually very intimidating, especially organic gardening where you don't get to uh kill all the bugs you see. It like it feels like there is like a secret language there. There's like hundred thousand rules, there's like millions of ways to mess it up. Actually, I get emails and DMs all the time, I get texts all the time for people who want to grow their food, but they don't know where to start, or they've tried growing it once, but it did not go well. Now they don't want to do it again, they are overwhelmed, they are scared to try again. Honestly, that's the exact reason I became an organic garden designer and coach in the first place. I've spent 15 plus years making the mistakes, figuring out what actually works in our climate, learning the hard way, so your journey does not have to take 15 years. My whole goal is to take what took me over a decade to figure out and hand it to you in a simple, doable, and honestly a kind of fun way to implement right away. If organic gardening has ever felt daunting to you, this episode and everything I do is actually about making your first step a lot less scary. Okay, here's what trips up a lot of gardeners, especially if you moved here from somewhere else. Um, I recently met a gardener who uh moved from um Maryland, I believe. Um and she tried growing everything that she has grown. She showed you so many beautiful pictures, and it does not work, the same timing will not work in our climate. Most the same most of that gardening advice is actually written for a different climate, not for us, and Texas and Houston specifically does not follow the same calendar. Our seasons are seasons are kind of backwards compared to what actually people expect. We're planting a fall garden when it's like 9500 degrees outside. It sounds wrong, but it exact it's exactly right for us in our climate. I actually have a whole training inside my uh vibrant garden experience where it's it's all about just gardening seasons in Texas, they are different from the rest of the country, and more importantly, how to use it to our advantage instead of fighting against it. I'm not going to go deep into it at all today, but just know there is actually a method of the madness. You once you get it, it gets so much easier. Okay, here's the big idea for today's episode. August is not one thing, it's two different windows, two different planting windows happening back to back. Okay, phase one is cool season. Cool season plants, but you're planting it indoors, your seeds starting indoors. Um, this feels backwards from what you would think. Your cool season plants will actually mature in cooler weather in late fall and early winter. But you start those from seeds right now. If you've not started them yet, now is a perfect time to start them from seeds. Seeds are a cheap way to grow your own plants and the it you will have it needs a it ha it takes a learning um there is a learning curve to it, so it's a cheaper way to fail basically. But if you start them outside in this her heat, these seeds, these plants will burn. I mean literally, not not I'm not being dramatic here. These plants will literally burn in this weather right now. These seeds and seedlings need to be started indoors under grow lights or in complete shade, like a covered patio. If you put these seeds right into your garden bed right now, first they will not germinate, second, even if they germinate, they will be overstressed and they will um not grow happily. So uh these plants are your broccoli, cauliflower, kales, and um sometimes even colades, even basil, you can start it um indoors or in shade. We are talking about a nursery space, somewhere protected, and once you've caught them to the size they need to be planted, the outdoor conditions will be right and you can move them out of the garden. Okay. Phase two your warm season crops, you know those things we had in uh early spring, the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, uh squashes we can actually plant them again right now as transplants, not as seeds, but only yes, transplants. Beans, beans is the only uh exception to this.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

You can start them from seeds.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

The window is coming up soon. Use these couple of weeks to get your beds ready and transplants lined up. You can plant your fall, trans fall tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, beans, squashes, even melons, sweet potatoes might not produce as much as if you have planted in um uh April or May, but you can still plant them, especially if you have them growing in your windowsill. You can even plant okras right now if they won't produce abundantly like in the summer, but they will still produce. And you can add in more flowers and herbs, rosemary, lemongrass, rudbechia, pentas, gazania, marigold, zinia, salvias, and sunflowers, you can grow them practically year-round year. So waiting for those cooler nights is not about the plant liking the cooler weather to grow. Uh, the plants need to survive till the cooler weather comes in so that we can be transplanted. If you plant one of those tender broccoli plants in 100 degree soil, they will um they will have an uphill battle battle even from day one. So that is why we are waiting, we are starting them indoors and we are waiting for cooler nights so that it can establish more faster. Mid-August is your uh time to plant your cool season plants indoors from seed, and it's also time to plant your warm season transplants like your tomatoes, peppers. Uh, it can go out in the garden. It's like you're preparing for two seasons at the same time, but that's where it gets tricky and confusing. I do have a full list of full visual list in my uh socials if you want to um take it in. Now, if you're listening to this and thinking, okay, this all makes sense when I explain it, but I have no idea how to do this or how to figure this out on my own. That is exactly why I built the vibrant garden experience. Like I said uh earlier, I didn't become a coach because gardening came easy to me because I became because it did not. I don't want you to have to spend 15 years trying to figure it out. Um, it's coming back this fall. Uh, it's a six weeks, yes. It is a commitment. I'm not going to pretend it is not, but I am trying to distill 15 years of trial and error, mistakes, and experience into six weeks, so bear with me. It's going to be a little bit of uh a little bit dense. We'll go through everything from setup, soil, uh, planting, harvesting, pest management, and how to customize all of it for your yard, your schedule, and your family. It is gardening, it's not a one-size-fit for all. If somebody sees that, please unfollow them. If that's something that you would be interested in, the wait list is open, the link is in the show notes. Okay, that's your August planting game plan. Right now, cool season seeds are started indoors or in shade, and we will be planting warm season transplant really soon. By end of the August, garden's going to be ready to be uh producing abundant very soon. Okay, it's but it's going to be a hot, sweaty month. Worth it month though. Uh grab some water, maybe do your planting early in the morning or later in the evening, then it's a little bit more bearable, and I'll see you in the next episode. Thank you for listening with listening to Grow with Vibrant Rainbow Gardens. The more gardens we grow, the more vibrant our communities become. Before you go, I have one small ask. It actually has nothing to do with algorithms or downloads. If this episode made you think of one person, a friend, a neighbor, a fellow parent, or someone who's always said, I want to grow a garden, I want to grow my own vegetables and fruits. I just don't know where to start. Would you share this episode with them? This podcast grows almost entirely through word of mouth, and every share helps someone realize that gardening doesn't have to be complicated or overwhelming. It can be gentle, it can fit real life, it can start right where they are. And if you're listening and wondering what kind of gardener you are or what your next best step actually is, I created a free quiz to help with that. And it helps you figure out your gardening style, your biggest challenges, and what will actually work for your season of life. Whether you're a total beginner or just need clarity. You can take it at vibrantrainbogardens.com forward slash quiz and I will send you personalized guidance right after. Thank you for being here, for listening, and for helping this little garden of a podcast grow. I'll see you in the next episode.