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Tips to Ensure Seeds Are Started on Time

Published on January 28, 2017Last updated November 18, 2021 ♛ By Melissa J. Will

This post contains affiliate links.
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One of the keys to seed sowing success is timing. When you plant can make all the difference in whether your plants bloom or bear fruit. These tips will help you time sowing just right.

This is part of a series, Indoor Seed Starting for Beginners | Sow Indoors Grow Outdoors, where I walk you through the process from seed to garden. It’s all the information I wish I had when I was getting started.

Calendar and seedlings.

Using Days to Maturity for Perfect Timing

A calendar and seedlings to help grow plants right on time.
Seed Starting For Beginners ebook cover.

This is a selection from the ebook, Seed Starting for Beginners: Sow Inside Grow Outside, sharing everything you need to know to start your own garden plants from seeds indoors.

If you would like the entire ebook with all the printable lists in one handy file, you can save it instantly here.

It’s all in the timing! 

There are two things we need to time right to give our garden plants time to mature within the growing season. .

1Total Growing Time

First, the big picture. If it’s a plant that flowers and/or fruits, you need enough indoor and outdoor growing time to allow the plant to mature, before fall frosts set in.

Find Your Frost Dates & Hardiness Zone

Plant Hardiness Zones | United States flag United States | Canadian flag Canada
These are listed on seed packets and plant tags to guide your choices.

Average Frost Dates | Use this calculator at Almanac.com. Enter your city and state or province to find your first and last frost dates and number of frost-free days.

Ecoregion | Learn about local native plants, animal species, and environmental conditions to make garden choices that benefit your ecosystem.

Learn More: Understanding Frosts & Freezing For Gardeners

If you are growing annuals (herbs, flowers, or vegetables that mature within a single growing season, and are not winter hardy), there is a finite number of days available.

  1. Check your seed packet for listed days to maturity.
  2. Check how many days you have between last frost in spring and first frost in fall. Is it enough? Is there elbow room for delays?
  3. If the seeds are started indoors, how many weeks before last frost should they be started?  Check your seed packet for this info. Does that additional time give you a long enough growing period?

There are tomatoes that mature in just 50 days and others that take twice that.

Some watermelons take so long they have no chance of ripening as the days shorten and become cooler in late summer.

Decreasing light as we head into autumn also slows plant growth.

It’s all about choosing seeds with the right timing for your growing zone.


Perennial and annual flowers in the garden.

Related: Perennials vs Annuals: What’s The Difference?


Days to Maturity

The days to maturity listed on seed packets may be counted from sowing date or outdoor transplanting date, depending on the plant.

That can make a difference of a few weeks so read carefully to be sure you do have enough time.


Watermelon ripening in the garden.

Related: How to Tell Watermelon is Ripe & Ready to Pick


If you are starting zone-appropriate perennials from seed, it’s not as urgent.

Perennials are plants that live on for several years.

Delphiniums are my favorite example. You simply need well-established plants in the ground before the frosts set in.

Like the other hardy plants in your garden, they’ll go dormant in the winter and resume growth in spring.

That allows a lot more leeway than annuals.

If you sow delphinium seeds in fall, after a cold, damp winter, they will germinate in spring.

2Right Indoor Timing

We want to start seeds indoors at the recommended times indoors, so we don’t cause other problems. If we sow seeds indoors too soon in late winter or early spring, you can end up with a lot of maturing plants that you do not have room for.

As they grow, they need larger pots and take up more room under the grow lights, and that can be very challenging in a small space.

Better to grow things just in time, so they are strong enough to withstand the transition to life outdoors in late spring or early summer (depending on your growing zone), without taking over your house or demanding better growing conditions.

If we sow seeds indoors too late, we’re cutting into the total days to mature and may not get fruit or flowers before first fall frost. Boo!

You can view and save my seed starting plan here showing the start dates for a variety of plants.


Ebook

Seed Starting For Beginners ebook cover.

Seed Starting for Beginners
Sow Inside Grow Outside

by Melissa J. Will

NEW EDITION | Everything you need to get started with indoor seed starting for indoor and outdoor plants. Grow what you want—any time of year!

About This Ebook | Visit Ebook Shop

This ebook is a digital file (PDF format) you save to your device. It is not a physical product.

Buy Now
$8 US

PayPal, Credit Card, Apple Pay

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛

A calendar and seedlings to help grow plants right on time.
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Melissa J. Will - Empress of DirtWelcome!
I’m Melissa J. Will a.k.a. the Empress of Dirt (Ontario, Canada).
Join me as I share creative + frugal home & garden ideas with a dash of humor.
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