Direct Seeding or Transplanting Vegetable Starts
I have always been torn between direct seeding my garden or transplanting starts. The part of me that is focused on working with nature through
permaculture really wants to plant all my vegetables from seeds. But I hate thinning... really hate it. So transplants can be very appealing to me.
Plus, some vegetables just don't do well here in Western Washington with our wet, cloudy, springs so growing them as starts (or buying starts) can be a great way to grow these vegetables.
But, direct seeded vegetables are cheaper (free if they are from saved seeds) and seem to weather summer droughts much better.
So which is better? Direct seeding your vegetables, or transplanting vegetable starts?
To help
answer these questions, this week's blog post is focused on the pros and cons of direct seeding your vegetables and transplanting vegetable starts -
Planting Vegetables – Are Seeds or Starts the Best for Your Garden?.
The blog post is broken into 2 main sections with sub-sections that dive into the details:
- Pros and Cons of Direct Seeding
- Pros and Cons of Transplanting Vegetable Starts
While I tried to come up with a complete list of pros and cons for both methods, I'm sure you will be able to come up with pros and cons that I missed for both. Please post a reply and share any additional pros and cons you can think of for either method.
A Story About the Benefits of Direct Seeding
Orach grown at my place from seeds - I find greens like orach generally easy to grow from seed.
For me the most important benefit of direct seeding in my garden is that plants that are direct seeded tend to be more drought resistant.
An observation that really brought this home to me was at one of my restoration sites for my day job. For this project I had planted thousands of
trees and shrubs trying to convert an old golf course into a healthy forest. But the site was very degraded and the soil was very poor at retaining
water.
Basically, the site was always in a drought in the summer and we joked that you could dump a
bucket of water on the ground and it would just disappear straight into the ground.
I struggled to find the crews and funds to keep all the trees and shrubs watered so they could get established and survive the annual droughts. Through a ton of effort the project was a success - but then I noticed something...
Big parts of the restoration site had been mulched (where buildings were demolished or old roads removed) and I noticed there were a ton of
volunteer trees and shrubs from seeds coming up in these areas. This was interesting but then I noticed that these little seedlings survived the summer droughts without any
watering from my crews!
Plus, these were the same species that I spent tons of effort planting and then watering over 2 summers...
Nature 1 - Daron 0
Because of this observation I'm experimenting at a new restoration site with only preparing a site with
mulch, not doing any of direct planting and instead just let nature do the planting through volunteers from wind blow seeds and seeds brought in by wildlife (birds mostly).
Potentially, this will save time,
energy, money and result in more resilient restoration site. Working with nature is always a good idea!
So, how does this story apply to your homestead or garden?
You can get the same benefit that I observed at my restoration site in your garden simply by direct seeding your vegetables instead of using starts. These young seedlings will be more drought resilient and
should reduce how much watering your garden needs.
For my homestead this is probably the single biggest reason I like to use direct seeding instead of transplanting - but I still often rely on transplants. For some vegetables direct seeding just does not seem to work.
Plants that are transplanted have their roots confined to the size of the pot they are grown in. I have pulled up very young direct seeded plants and found them to already have a main root longer than the standard small pots that vegetable starts are normally grown in.
But despite this great benefit I still rely on transplants a fair bit.
Which Method do You Prefer?
Choosing between direct seeding and transplanting starts is a choice that I have struggled with a fair bit. I feel like I "should" plant with seeds but often the benefits of transplanting vegetable starts makes me go that route instead. The story I shared above is a big part of why I want to direct seed everything.
But often it can be easier to buy some starts and plant them with the exact spacing I want. No thinning, bigger plants (pill bugs stop being an issue), but less options in terms of varieties, and much more expensive (I don't have a good place to grow my own starts).
So I end up doing a mix - greens, carrots (and other root crops), peas, and beans are often direct seeded but then I buy starts for
tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. Basically, starts for warm loving plants (except corn and squash) and direct seeding for the rest.
This seems to work for me. But what about you?
Do you only use transplants (bought or ones you have grown)? Do you only direct seed? Or do you prefer a mix?
Please leave a comment in this
thread with your answer and don't forget to
check out my blog post mentioned in this thread. If you are one of the first to leave a comment on here you might even get a surprise in the form of
pie or apples
The blog post has a complete list of pros and cons for direct seeding and transplanting starts. Plus, all the information is available in a cheat-sheet that you can easily print to help you plan how to plant each vegetable for your garden.
If you are needing some help figuring out which vegetables to grow then check out last week's blog post all about
How to Choose the Right Vegetables to Plant in Your Garden
Thank you!
PS: Sorry for the delay in getting this out to you all - spent the weekend working on installing a new
fence with my Dad and just ran out of time to jump on the computer until now.