Skip the Transplants? How to Direct Sow Seeds

Food Garden Life: Helping You Harvest More from Your Edible Garden, Vegetable Garden, and Edible Landscaping

Have you tried direct sowing but didn’t get good results? Wondering how to direct sow seeds?

Direct sowing—a.k.a. direct seeding or direct planting—is when we sow seeds straight into the garden. We skip starting transplants indoors.

It gives better results for some crops—because there’s no transplanting shock. And that’s great, because it saves you the hassle of growing transplants.

But some crops need extra growing time…and that’s where transplants make sense. Or sometimes, hot summer weather causes spotty germination outdoors, meaning transplants are a better option.

To ace your direct seeding, you need to know which crops it works with—and how to do it.

In this episode, Donna and Steven talk about:

• Why and when to direct sow
• When it makes sense to grow transplants instead of direct sowing
• How to direct sow seeds
• What crops are best for direct sowing

If you’re looking for more ideas for planting your vegetable garden, here’s an article with 7 Vegetable Garden Layout ideas.

-->Join the 5,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang who stay on top of home food-growing ideas with our weekly e-mail. We’re making the world a better place one garden at a time!

-->Grab the free e-books: Small-Space Food-Gardening Hacks and Growing Figs in Cold Climates.

-->And say hi—we love to hear what you think!