Mustard greens
Brassica juncea
Fast, peppery cool-season greens for autumn and late winter sowing.
When to plant in Santa Rosa
Mustard greens is planted more than once a year here. Both windows are shown below and labelled; they are two separate plantings, not one long one, and the months between them are not part of either.
- Direct sow · SeptemberOpen now
September 1, 2026 – December 31, 2026
UF/IFAS North Florida planting dates: September to April. First half, split at 31 December because a window cannot wrap the year.
- Direct sow · JanuaryOpens in 12 weeks
January 1, 2027 – April 30, 2027
UF/IFAS North Florida planting dates: September to April. Second half of the same window, carried over from the previous autumn.
- Harvest · OctoberOpens in 5 days
October 11, 2026 – December 31, 2026
Derived, not published as a window by the guide: the September to April planting plus the guide's 40–50 days to harvest from sowing. First half, split at 31 December.
- Harvest · JanuaryOpens in 12 weeks
January 1, 2027 – June 19, 2027
Derived, not published as a window by the guide: the September to April planting plus the guide's 40–50 days to harvest from sowing. Second half of the same period.
Growing it
- Days to maturity
- 40–50
- Sun
- Full Sun
Mustard is the quickest of the cool-season greens to reach a cutting and is usually direct sown in succession rather than all at once. UF/IFAS runs the North Florida window straight through from September to April rather than splitting it into an autumn and a spring sowing. Warm weather at the end of it turns the leaves bitter, which is the guide's own note on the crop.
From the guide: UF/IFAS gives the North Florida planting dates for this crop as September to April. It gives 40–50 days from seed to harvest, 5–10 inches apart in rows 12 inches apart, sown ¼–½ in. deep. On the crop itself it says: Good cooking green fall through spring; harvest outer leaves. Damaged by freezing temperatures. Warm temperatures create bitter flavor.
Where these dates come from: the North Florida column of the UF/IFAS Extension Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide (SP 103/VH021), which defines North Florida as everything above State Road 40. Walton County is well inside it, and the Central and South Florida columns of the same table give different months. The guide is written for home and market gardens, so its spacing and days-to-harvest figures are a starting point for a field planting rather than a commercial schedule, and days to harvest varies by variety.
Common problems
- Cabbage looper
- Diamondback moth
- Aphids
- Flea beetles
- White rust