Seeds or Transplants?

Seeds or transplants? Some plants grow easily from seed while others grow best when pre-started or grown ahead of time. But what plants are more cost-effective or productive to grow from seed vs. as a transplant? Which ones do you seed directly and which ones do you perhaps buy or carefully plant in a protected area (like inside or in a greenhouse) ahead of time? Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but I’ll share what I do!

What I typically buy (or grow myself) as transplants for the edible veggie garden are: 

Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, oh my!  These plants typically take a long time to mature and if you have a short growing season (hello 6-month winter!) it makes sense to get a head start by getting transplants from a local farm or nursery. You can also try growing yourself but remember these plants NEED heat to germinate. If I grow my own transplants, I will typically plant them a little more densely in “strip trays” and put them over a heat mat for a few days to jumpstart the sprouting in the beginning. Remember young transplants also need strong light early on to develop sturdy, hardy stems. Leggy, spindly seedlings do not make great, high-producing transplants. If you use a grow light to add supplemental light, use a timer to give your seedlings around 12-18 hours of light. Indoor growlights are weaker than sunlight and you need just a little bit more to make up for it. 

Perennial herbs like oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, and chives often have notoriously tiny seeds and it takes a LONG tiny for you brave souls who want to grow these from seed. They are often a good choice to purchase, but if you feel inspired to grow them yourself, go for it! If you want to have them ready for the earliest possible date, follow the instruction on the seed packet for when to start them from seed (typically how many weeks before your area's last frost date or estimated day below freezing). This also goes for annual herbs like basil and chamomile which are trickier to grow from seed. Though if you are inspired, try it! 

Cool season, hardy greens: Kale, collard, parsley, and chard are great as transplants. They are biennials, meaning they won't flower and stop producing as soon as it gets warm (eh-hem... yes, I am talking to you, spinach... oh you finicky one!). They can be a good option to get as transplants and will last a long while. They can be planted in spring (or anytime during the season) and produce ALL SEASON LONG!! You go, biennial greens! Especially if you are one of those people whose garden is bright and sunny first thing in the spring but gets shadier in summer. If you have full sun and lots of garden space, than the harder-to-grow broccoli, cabbage, and brussels sprouts might be another option to start as transplants!

Perennial native and meadow plants: These are awesome plants to buy as starts or find an existing source to use for cuttings, rhizomes, offshoots or roots to propagate... each plant has it's preferred propagation technique. But if you want an advanced challenge or a "next level adventure" (as I like to call it) as a gardener, try sprouting these tricky plants from seed. These seeds can be minuscule or need light to germinate (like cardinal flower, great blue lobelia, mountain mint), or need a cold stratification period (aka: time being wet and cold in the refrigerator or in wet soil like milkweeds, echinacea, and blazing star), or need to be scarified (aka: scratched with sandpaper like our native lupine), or paired with a grass because they are parasitic flowers (yes, I am talking to you, Wood Betony and Indian Paintbrush!). Or several of the above! Definitely worth buying these plants as transplants if you want these awesome beneficial flowers but are a new gardener! 

Annual flowers: If you want immediate color, annual flowers are a great way to go. Even though I love the color of these plants, I'm typically not too big a fan unless they earn their keep in the garden ecoloigcally, too. Like if they are a pollen or nectar source (like sweet alyssum or zinnias), are hardy and drought tolerant (like moss roses), or help with deterring animal pests (marigold). Some of these faster-maturing varieties grow readily from seed. Generally the bigger the seed and the less time an annual takes to bloom, the easier it is to sprout from seed... generally... but of course, there are always exceptions!

What do I sow directly from seed into the ground in my garden?

Cool-weather veggie crops that germinate easily or mature fairly quickly like peas, salad radishes, arugula, green and lettuce mixes, spinach, cilantro, dill. Or root crops that take awhile and don't transplant well like beets and carrots which are a little harder for beginning gardeners. Even fennel, scallions and large asian greens like baby bok choi can be great to grow from seed. However, if you are growing lettuce or bok choi to full head size you might consider buying them as young transplants to get a jumpstart.  

Warm-season crops that germinate readily from seed are cucumbers, summer squash, zucchini, sunflowers, and beans (bush and pole beans) to name a few. Corn and winter squash are in this category, too, but they are more successful in a large garden with full sun and plenty of space. If you have trouble with bunnies eating your bean, squash, or sunflower sprouts, considering jumpstarting them inside for two to three weeks to let them grow out of their newly sprouted, extra tasty phase of life into hardier and more mature young plants. Once they mature past being a sprout, they are much less attractive (and edible) to these animal pests. As sprouts, they are almost irresistible! 

Also in this category are warm or cool-season flowers or herbs that germinate quickly like borage, nasturtiums, calendula, marigolds, mallows, hollyhocks or cosmos. Generally these plants have large (ish) seeds and generally aren't too tricky to germinate quickly and readily. You can start them ahead of time as transplants, but they also work quite well seeded directly into the garden soil.