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Indoor Seed Starting Schedule for Easy Vegetables & Flowers

March 14, 2020

Starting seeds indoors is fun, but it can quickly get complicated when you’re trying to figure out when to start flowers, vegetables, and herbs indoors. There’s no one-size-fits-all general guidelines, and many plants have a range of weeks that they can be started.

In this post I’ll break it down and show you the best (read: easiest) seeds to start indoors, when to start them indoors, and keep it easy with pretty charts for each week.

A few disclaimers before we start–I personally garden in zone 3, so my seed starting schedule will best suit zones 2, 3, 4, and 5, because we share a similar shorter growing season.

In zone 3 it is very difficult to stagger seed and have dedicated plantings for spring and fall crops. Because of the short amount of time, most plants get planted all at once or just a few weeks apart. However, the amount of time the seed needs to be started indoors before the last frost date should work for you, no matter where in the world you garden.

I’m going to assume that you already know the basics of seed starting indoors with a grow light. If you don’t have a grow light and need to start from a window, read this post. If you don’t have decent light or space in your home, you might enjoy trying this unusual method of seed starting.

With that out of the way, let’s figure out your indoor seed starting schedule!

Is it too late to start seeds indoors?

To find the answer to that question, you’ll need to know your last Spring Frost date. You can find yours in Canada here, or in the US here. From that date, you’ll count backwards to whatever date it currently is that you’re reading this post. For example, if your last frost date is May 21st, and you’re currently reading this on April 1st, you have 7 weeks left, and can probably start most of the plants you’re hoping to start, with a few exceptions.

Some plants like broccoli, cauliflower, zinnias, and marigolds can be both seed started and direct sown, and have a lot of flexibility in timing. Other plants like peppers, tomatoes, artichokes, and others that love heat and require a long growing season are much less flexible and can be direct seeded only in the very warmest growing zones.

My friend Julia from Julia Dimakos, Gardening Girl, has a wonderful seed starting chart that you can personalize to wherever you live.

This is me with most of the seeds I started in Spring 2019.

What are the best seeds to start indoors?

I’m going to answer this question by not answering it–instead, I’ll tell you the seeds that you really shouldn’t start indoors. Every other vegetable (and most flowers) can likely be started indoors.

Do not seed start. . . .

  • Corn
  • Beets
  • Carrots
  • Turnips
  • Radishes
  • Peas
  • Beans
  • Amaranthus
  • Spinach
  • Potatoes

In general, root vegetables should not be started indoors, with the exception of onions if you are starting them from seed and not bulbs. I do not recommend complete beginners start onions from seed, as it’s a very long 2 year process. Please save yourself the headache and buy onions in the little bulb form instead.

Update: Now of course, once I posted this list, a bunch of people wrote to me in disagreement. You can seed start all of the things on this list if you really want to. But I personally wouldn’t.

Okay, But What Are the Easiest Vegetables to Start Indoors?

Beginner gardeners can have good success with seed starting peppers and tomatoes. As for flowers, you can’t go wrong with marigolds, zinnia, cosmos, and calendula.

I personally have found it very difficult to start cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower. It has taken me 4 years of trying to finally grow decent seedlings, and even then, they were more stretched out than I would have liked.

Seed Starting Timelines

Here are some fun graphics I’ve created to help you know exactly when to start some of the most common vegetables and flowers.

I also go into more detail about when to start vegetables in my Growing Roots Gardening Guide, and when to start cut flowers in Cut Flowers Made Simple.

In general, the flowers and vegetables that need to be started at 10 weeks, 8 weeks, and 6 weeks, can not be direct seeded successfully in colder climates with short growing seasons. Or it they are successful, they will only bloom/ripen at the very tail end of the season.

The flowers and vegetables listed in the 4 weeks section could all be direct seeded.

It’s also okay to start these seeds the week after they are listed. For example, it’s okay to start Week 10 seeds in Week 9, Week 8 seeds in Week 7, and so on.

I hope this little seed starting guide helps you on your gardening adventures. What will you be seed starting this year?

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

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Filed Under: Seed Starting, Uncategorised Tagged: chart, Flowers, guide, seed starting, Vegetables, week by week

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Welcome!

Hi, I'm Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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Welcome!

Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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Got the seed starting itch? There's some things y Got the seed starting itch?  There's some things you can actually seed start now and you won't end up with crazy leggy seedlings and endless problems.  In fact, these plants require that you start now, and need to be started in zone 3 by the end of February at the absolute latest.⁠
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I've already started some lisianthus and eucalyptus, and am waiting on my seed orders to start some more.⁠
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If you're starting a luffa sponge, make sure you have some sort of eventual plan for the vine.  last year mine went over my fall windows before I was able to take them outdoors.⁠
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P.S. I've actually never started onions from seed, so if anyone wants to chin in about their experience, feel free!
Growing eucalyptus for the first time this year? Growing eucalyptus for the first time this year?  A new post is on the blog to walk you through it.  While in theory eucalyptus is easy to grow, it's challenging in my zone 3 garden for three reasons: ⁠
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➡️It needs a long time to mature⁠
➡️I have a short growing season⁠
➡️I live in a cool climate, and eucalyptus grows better when its warm.⁠
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That said, you can see by this picture that it can be done!!⁠
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Are you growing eucalyptus this year?
Oh friends, if any of my nice, curated photos sums Oh friends, if any of my nice, curated photos sums up how this last week went, I think it's this one.  Babies crying, trying to stay calm, outwardly looking like it's all under control, but feeling very overwhelmed.⁠
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This post isn't gardening related, so feel free to scroll by if you're here only for the gardening content.⁠
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Thankfully it's January, and I keep reminding myself that the Internet will not break if I don't keep to my self-imposed posting schedule.  But it doesn't make a week full of teething-and-not-sleeping baby any easier. ⁠
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A lot of you who follow me do so in part because you are also juggling life with very little people through this strange time.  I hope that in occasionally sharing my struggles, it makes you feel better about your struggles. (You're struggling too sometimes. . . right?)
Do you tend to plan out your garden to the nth deg Do you tend to plan out your garden to the nth degree, do you just wing it, or are you somewhere in-between?⁠
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I tend to plan it all out, and then when I actually get out in the field, so to speak, the plan changes a little bit. ⁠
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If you need a garden planner that's both pretty & practical, my garden planner is available in the ebooks section.  It's only $9 and has lots of upgrades from the previous planner.  Use code CANADA if you're Canadian to account for the exchange.⁠
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P.S. You can see exactly what you're getting in the video--no surprises. ⁠
P.P.S  I get my planner bound and printed at a printing place.  Lots of people just print their own and put the sheets in a binder.
Are you gardening in containers this year? When y Are you gardening in containers this year?  When you're shopping for vegetable seeds, look for varieties that have names with words like patio, tiny, small, etc.  While lots of vegetable varieties will do fine in a container, you'll have an easier time with ones that are specifically bred for that situation.⁠
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📸 by @blushbrandphotography
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🌶️Escamillo⁠
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What do you prioritize when you're picking out seeds?⁠
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