Can you plant seeds in January?
Yes, because for us gardeners, it's hard to resist waiting!
And there is no reason to wait.
That said, in most growing regions, starting seeds outside in January isn't realistic (at least without cover, read more about that lower below.) In growing regions with cold winters, the ground is usually frozen or covered in snow, and ongoing frosts are imminent. But there are some cool weather veggies that can be started outdoors under cover, and you can start some summer vegetable seeds indoors to let them germinate and grow indoors until it's warm enough to plant them!
Many summer veggies like tomatoes should be started about 6-8 weeks prior to transplanting outdoors after all chance of frost has passed. So January is just too early in most areas for many large fast-growing vegetables like tomatoes, squash or beans. Some veggies don't like to be transplanted either – radishes*, cilantro*, squash, pumpkins, zucchini and carrots* are best directly seeded outside when the time is right.
Of course, if you have the room and good lighting, you can start a lot of veggies like peppers, basil, lettuce, parsley, oregano, or spinach indoors now in January! Just make sure to pot up larger plants like peppers to larger containers as they fill out their pots, the more roots the better!
Peppers are actually perennial plants, so you can grow most varieties for many years to provide years of harvests, as long as they are protected from frost. Many people start pepper seeds indoors and grow pepper plants year-round under lights in the winter months, and move them outside in the summer months.
Tomato seeds germinate and grow FAST - so it's likely best to wait unless you have a lot of growing room, are able to pot them into larger pots, and provide bright supplemental lights. Because they are fast growing, we usually wait to start tomato seeds until about 4-6 weeks before transplanting outside, but pepper seeds, especially super hot pepper seeds can be started much earlier as they take their sweet ol' time to germinate and grow slowly at first.
*Planting seeds in January outdoors:
We are also planting seeds for Radishes, Lettuces, Beets, Cilantro, Carrots, Spinach, Green Onions, Parsley, and other cool-weather veggies outside in our cold frame in January. No added heat, but they don't mind! They'll germinate when the conditions are right, and the trapped solar heat of a cold frame or small hoop house helps warm the soil and gets them going a lot sooner. A little cover goes a long way to helping things grow outdoors this time of year here in the West. Just make sure to vent it on warm sunny winter days or you'll cook your seedlings! You can even use an overturned clear saucer and start spinach or lettuce seeds under it with great success in the winter months!
Winter Sowing is also a great way to start cool-weather loving seeds outdoors now. These little "greenhouses" don't need any added heat to start many cool-weather veggies this time of year. It's a great technique if you don't have much space indoors to start seeds. Read more about it in our Winter Sowing blog post.
Happy growing!
