What are the best hot weather vegetables to grow?
In spring and fall, you have so many choices for your vegetable garden, but when the dog days of summer hit, especially in the south, those choices dwindle. But there are still a few hot weather vegetables to keep you harvesting all summer long.
This post may contain affiliate links. I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Please read my disclosure if you have questions.
Thank you for supporting this site with purchases made through links in this post. For Starters Here’s My Amazon Store.
The list below is great for those hot days of summer, but don’t forget the cooler days of spring and fall. There are many plants that prefer the cooler days. Check out 22 Best Cool Season Vegetables.
Which Vegetables Grow Best In Hot Weather?
All vegetables have their own range of temperatures that they grow best in. So if you want a garden in the heat of summer, you will want to pick the right plants to grow.
Some Like It Hot! Hot Weather Vegetables That Is.
What to grow in a hot climate or in the hottest part of the summer? How do you grow a garden in extreme heat? You have to choose the right vegetables (and fruit).
Here are my top picks of vegetables to grow when the thermometer begins to rise.
1) Sweet Potatoes
When it’s too hot to grow white potatoes, sweet potatoes are just catching their stride.
Wait until the ground is good and warm to put the slips in the ground. The vines spread so quickly they choke out most of the weeds. (Yeah!) That’s reason enough to grow them.
Did you know you can also eat the leaves of the sweet potato vine? Saute them up or throw them in a soup. And don’t forget your farm animals love them too. My ducks and chickens will devour them, so don’t let them free range in your summer garden.
Harvest before the soil temperature drops to 55° F.
Top Choice: Beauregard
2) Hot Peppers
While bell peppers slow down and start to dwindle, many hot peppers are just getting going. Use in salsas, season dishes or stuff and grill for outstanding homemade poppers.
There are so many varieties to choose from. From mildly pungent to set your mouth on fire.
Top Choice: Ancho Grande (mildly spicy)
3) Melons
The summertime heat brings out the sweet in melons. Though these are not really hot weather vegetables, (since they are fruit) these hot weather fruit still belong on the list.
Whether cantaloupe, honeydew, or watermelon you can’t beat the drip off the chin syrup of the summertime melon fresh from the vine.
Keep them evenly moist, but don’t overwater as they are ripening as their flavor will not be as sweet, it will quite literally be watered down.
Though there are a few bush varieties, most melons require a lot of space to sprawl. Plan accordingly so they don’t choke out other vegetables in your garden. Or you can try tying them to your fence with the “pantyhose technique”.
Top Choice: Sugarbaby
4) Okra
Probably my favorite summer vegetable is okra. If you’ve only ever had it in a stew or gumbo where the texture is slimy, give sauteing, frying, or baking a try. That eliminates the slime factor. But don’t forget to pickle some. That’s my family’s favorite way to eat okra.
A true hot-weather vegetable, it loves warm nights. Mulch to keep the roots a little cooler and to conserve moisture. But most important, pick the pods when small, no more than 3 inches max, and pick every day or at least every other day.
This plant is very prolific, but unforgiving if you let the pods get too big. Then they become woody.
Top Choice: Clemson Spineless
Related Reading: Tips For Growing Fantastic Okra
5) Malabar Spinach
Though it looks quite similar and can be used in the same recipes as spinach, Malabar spinach is not really a spinach at all and that’s a good thing. Because spinach just can’t do the hot weather thing.
Grow it on a trellis and you will have greens all summer long.
This is a really pretty edible landscape plant. Try it in the front garden.
Top Choice: Malabar Spinach
6) New Zealand Spinach
Also not a true spinach, but can be used in the same way. Salads, soups stirfry this green will add a much-needed taste and nutritional punch when your other greens have taken a vacation.
Pretty much disease and pest-free, it will keep on giving all through those 90° plus days.
These generally have a poor germination rate, so soak your seeds and/or pre-sprout so you end up with the quantity you want.
Top Choice: New Zealand Spinach
Related Reading>> 8 Easy Ways To Preserve Your Harvest.
7) Eggplant
Eggplant loves the heat and most take quite a long growing season. I prefer the slender Asian eggplant as they are less bitter and you don’t have to peel them.
My sister, on the other hand, prefers the large roundish variety as she can slice them thin and roll them up with stuffing inside. Both varieties are wonderful in dishes like Ratatouille.
Top Choice: Long Ping Tung
Related Reading: Eggplant – Planting, Growing, and Harvesting
8) Yardlong beans
Yardlong beans, also called asparagus beans thrive in the heat. They have a sweet nutty flavor. Grow them on a trellis or fence and pick them when they are no more than 12 inches long for the best flavor and tenderness.
Top Choice: Asparagus Yard-Long
9) Corn
Corn is very much in the category of hot weather vegetables, corn does not like to be planted until the ground has warmed.
The hotter it gets the faster it grows. Corn needs a lot of moisture to develop those ears and is a very heavy feeder. This is a great plant to follow the nitrogen-fixing beans and peas in your plant rotation cycle.
Plant in blocks not in rows as it is wind pollinated. You can hand pollinate if you have a very small plot.
Your biggest problem will be watching for corn earworms.
(And yes I know corn is really a grain and not a vegetable at all.)
Top Choice: Silver Queen
Try something fun! Strawberry Popcorn
10) Southern Peas / Blackeyed Peas / Cow Peas
Though really beans, not peas at all, these are a real staple in the south. Picked very young they can be used like string beans. (though not as tender)
But let the beans inside fill out, shell them and cook them with a little water or broth add a strip or two of bacon and you will make a southerners mouth water.
Let them dry on the vine and you have dry beans for storage.
Top Choice: California Black-eyed Pea
11) Armenian Cucumbers
While they are technically a melon, they have a great cucumber flavor and are wonderful sliced in salads. They make great pickles too. Pick them when they are no more than 18 inches long.
Top Choice: Long Green
12) Tomatillos
Last but not least, of these hot weather vegetables are tomatillos. Many people are not very familiar with them but you really ought to give them a try.
Though, related to the tomato these little guys love the heat and will keep producing when your tomatoes have just petered out. They come in more than one flavor and are very versatile.
Try them in more than just salsas. Raw or cooked they will add that extra pizzaz to your summertime table.
Top Choice: Verde
Related>> Start A Vegetable Garden From Scratch.
Heat Tolerant Vegetables.
So even if your summer temperatures hit 100°F or more, you can still have produce in the garden with these hot weather vegetables.
For The Warm (not hot) Weather Summers.
Some of you only have warm summers or very short periods of hot weather. If this is you, there are other veggies that you can take advantage of.
And those of you in the hotter climates can grow these in Spring and Fall and in the way south (ahem Florida) you can even grow them in the winter.
Related>> Hand Pollination: How To Increase Garden Yields Naturally
Tomatoes
Large size tomatoes are a little picky. They can’t take a frost, and on the other extreme they stop setting fruit when the thermometer hits 90°F and the nights are 70°F or above. However, if you only have those temperatures for a short time, and you keep them well watered, they will live through it and start to blossom again when it cools a bit.
Where I’m at (south Florida) we have those temps for 4 to 5 (sometimes 6) months, so Large tomatoes are relegated to the fall and winter. We have to be a bit crafty at covering them when the frosts come because they are full sized when frost comes.
Top Choice: Homestead
Related Reading>> Simple Ways To Get Rid Of Tomato Hornworm.
Cherry/Grape/Current Tomatoes
Small size tomatoes seem to take the heat a bit better. They continue to set fruit longer, and if they can get a little respite from the afternoon sun and plenty of water, I can keep them producing a lot longer than the big boys.
And in this house, we do love our little pop in your mouth goodness tomatoes. Sungold Cherry Tomatoes are one of our favorites.
Top Choice: Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
Related Reading>> 16 Top Secrets For Growing Great Tomatoes.
Bell Peppers
Bell Peppers are a lot like the little tomatoes. They will keep on producing much of the summer if given a bit of afternoon shade and plenty of water. If it gets too hot their blossoms may drop, but the fruit will still continue to ripen and may start blooming again when it cools down.
Top Choice: Orange King
All Melons
Melons, watermelons, cantaloupe, honeydew, and the like, do well in the heat of summer, in most places. Remember, lots of water and mulch, mulch, mulch.
Top Choice: Minnesota Midget
Summer & Winter Squash
It may seem odd to have both Summer and Winter Squash on this list, but the season has nothing to do with when it’s grown, it has to do with when it is eaten. Summer squash needs to be consumed (or preserved) as soon as it is picked in the summer. Winter squash will keep for several months and is usually consumed in the fall and winter. In fact, the flavor actually benefits from curing.
Top Choice: Seminole Pumpkin
Pumpkin
Pumpkin is just a winter squash, ya’ll.
Cucumber
Cucumbers are much like tomatoes. It doesn’t like the frost and if it doesn’t get too hot it does just fine. If you live where it’s really hot, grow it in late spring and again in early fall. Pickling types do better than the slicers in the heat.
Top Choice: Space Master
Green Beans/Shell Beans/Lima/Fava etc.
Beans don’t like the frost either and do well through most summers. Keep them picked though or they will stop producing. If it gets too hot, just plant some more (succession planting) and by the time they are up the temperature will probably have cooled off a bit. Beans come in two basic types, bush and pole. Both are great.
Top Choice: Kentucky Wonder
Related>>12 Easy Vegetables For Beginning Gardeners
Swiss Chard/Kale/Collards/Mustard Greens
I put these here with a caveat. A lot of people can grow these through the summer, but they don’t taste as good as they do when grown in the fall and winter. These can take a frost and in fact, benefit from it.
Top Choice: Fordhook Giant
Onions
Onions are a long growing plant and need to grow through all seasons to head up. Be aware that there are short day length and long day length varieties. Those in the south need to grow the short day length varieties. I discovered how long the days are in the summer when I went to upstate NY for a wedding and couldn’t get my kids to go to sleep at 9:00 because it was still daylight!
Yes, we in the sunny state of Florida are actually short day length.
Potatoes
Potatoes are much like tomatoes. make sure they stay covered and the sun doesn’t get to them.
Most Herbs
Many herbs are from the Mediterranean region and do very well in the heat of summer. Check out my herb growing class and learn about some easy to grow herbs.
Learn More:
22 Best Cool Season Vegetables (for spring and fall)
The Ultimate Beginning Vegetable Gardening Course
How To Start A Container Garden Like A Pro
Control Bugs In Your Garden Naturally
Did you like this post? Then, I’d love it if you’d share it!
Want some more top posts? Check out this list of Readers Favorites.
Happy Gardening!
I believe everyone can grow at least part of their own food! Let me show you how.
Mary is a gardener, backyard homesteader, and duck wrangler. She is also the owner and writer of LifeIsJustDucky.com and AGoodWordADay.com. (for daily devotions) Mary is passionate about helping others expand their backyard homesteading skills and learn to be more self-sufficient, no matter where they live.
This was such a helpful guide for growing vegetables during the hot summer months. I especially liked the practical tips about choosing heat-tolerant plants and keeping them productive in extreme temperatures. Summer gardening really does require a little extra planning. Thanks for sharing these useful gardening tips!
Hey there, this is one excellent content. I appreciate you taking the time to provide this important information.
This is great post. Thanks for sharning regards
Thanks! I’m glad you found it. Please share it so others can find it too.
I really like watermelon, peas;)
Good analytical work, it was interesting!
Watermelon is a warm weather crop. But peas are cold weather.
I must say this is an amazing post. I really enjoy reading and gathering the information that you provide. Thanks for sharing with us.
I’m glad you found it interesting.