>Next: Planting Seed in Gardens
Vegetables and Seeds
Place germinating seeds in a warm, sunny location to prevent them from growing leggy. Plants grow too fast and develop weak stems when they must search for light. Seedlings should receive at least six hours of sunlight daily or have supplemental light.
Planting and Growing Seeds Outdoors
On this page you’ll find information about how to plant vegetables from seed directly into outdoor garden soils, beds and containers, including:
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- The advantages of planting vegetables from seed instead of planting transplants.
- Why seeds offer more varieties than are found in nursery-grown transplants.
- How to store seeds until they are planted to keep the seeds fresh and viable.
- Conditions required for planting vegetable seed in outdoor garden soils.
- Preparing garden soils for planting vegetable seeds.
- Signs of germination and development in vegetable-seed plantings.
- When to thin vegetable sprouts started from seed.
Germinating Vegetables from Seeds
Growing vegetables from seeds has many advantages, making it inexpensive and the best way to raise unique and unusual heirloom vegetables, or plant pest- or disease-resistant strains.
Planting seeds of proven varieties and cultivars ensures your vegetable plants are well adapted to special needs found in your local area.
Planting from seed is economical and makes starting new transplants easy regardless of the calendar or the season. That is vital for planting successions of vegetables in your garden [see Planting Vegetable Successions].
Seed Selection
Choose quality seed with an expiration date for planting in the current year.
Decide which plant varieties you will grow while seed choices are plentiful. Buy the seed packets, then put them in zipped, moisture-proof plastic bags.
Store seeds after purchase in bags placed in the vegetable-keeper drawer of your household refrigerator. Its low temperature helps keep the seed dormant until it warms and is planted.
Seeds stored in this fashion stay fresh and will germinate after a year or more, depending on the variety.
Planting Seed
You’ve already seen how to start seed in containers [see Starting Plants Indoors].
When all hazard of frost has passed and the soil has warmed sufficiently for planting, follow the instructions shown for planting seed directly into your garden’s soil, prepared in advance by enriching it with compost and fertilizer.
It’s important to plant seed correctly. Refer to the packet directions or grower recommendations to determine the proper depth and spacing for each type of vegetable start. Because germinating seeds is uncertain, avoid gaps in your plantings. Instead sow two or three seeds in each planting location, then thin the emerging seedlings as necessary.
For vegetables with tiny seed such as carrot, lettuce, beet and radish, the depth of planting may be 1/4 in. (6 mm) or less. Instead of raking soil over the planted seeds, sift a covering of fine sandy loam or sandy soil over the seeds. Then firm the area surrounding the planting. This process assures that the soil makes close contact with the seed, necessary to transfer moisture to the seed.
Large, starchy-seeded vegetables such as pea, pumpkin, squash or sunflower can be planted more deeply, either in a furrow or in holes made with a dibber, a hoe handle, a weeding fork or your finger. Again, firm the soil over and around the seed following planting.
Post-Planting Care
Complete sowing seeds in your garden by gently misting the surface of the soil in the planted area with a fine spray of water mixed with liquid or foliar fertilizer at half the recommended application rate.
Use either a low-pressure garden hose with an adjustable nozzle or a watering can that has a diffusing rose on its spout. Carefully avoid washing the newly planted seed from the soil. Keep the area evenly moist until the seed germinates and send up sprouts.
Note the germination time from GrownByYou’s vegetable plant guide or the seed package [See: Vegetables].
Germination may be faster or slower than indicated, depending on soil warmth and seed planting depth. Emerging sprouts of small vegetables such as lettuce are tiny and hard to see, so look closely each day for germinating seeds.
Seed often emerges as two-leaved sprouts bearing little resemblance to the mature plants. Wait to thin these plantings until true leaves emerge after a few more days [see Thinning].
Planting Seed Indoors or in the Garden
Many gardeners prefer to start seeds indoors to add days to the growing season and control early growth. Some vegetables, however, do best when sown directly into garden soils. Sowing seed is often used for mid-season replanting and sequential plantings [See: Planting Vegetables Successions].