Seed Sowing and Planting Chart

5 Comments
Seed Starting Chart

How and when to get seeds started differs with each crop. Some plants do best when sown outdoors directly into the ground or container where they will live out their lives. This is called direct sowing. Crops like basil, tomatoes, and peppers have a very long growing season that can’t be met in colder climates without getting a head-start indoors.

My seed starting and planting chart will help you calculate how and when each crop should be sown and when it is safe to plant out. It is also a really handy way to keep track of and organize your gardening plan from year to year.

You can print out and fill in the seed-starting chart (shown above) that I designed in 2006 and have been using ever since. Some time back reader, Maggie Wang, converted it into an handy Excel chart. Just input the Frost Free Date for your area and the program calculates sowing and planting dates for you!

If you happen to have a copy of my book, “Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces,” an updated version of the chart can be found in the back on page 202.

Gayla Trail
Gayla is a writer, photographer, and former graphic designer with a background in the Fine Arts, cultural criticism, and ecology. She is the author, photographer, and designer of best-selling books on gardening, cooking, and preserving.

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5 thoughts on “Seed Sowing and Planting Chart”

  1. I started Red Cabernet Onion seeds this morning as well as Viola tricolor seeds. Both were in ancient styrofoam APS trays and placed under hanging lights. My growing season has officially begun! Last year I grew onions from seed for the first time, trying to circumvent the high price for onion plants (plus shipping fees) through mail order. It worked out wonderfully well. Counting down 4 months until our spring frost date….

  2. What an amazing share. Thank you so much. Obviously our seasons are completely different here (in Tasmania Australia) but I figure we are just 6 months different so I can live with factoring that into the mix. You are a very generous person to share this freely with us all. Here’s to happy gardening for all! :)

  4. Thanks for the chart and the link to the excel version. I experiment growing with electricity and am planning on tweaking the excel version to show how much faster certain plants grow when stimulated, e.g. certain tomatoes can be harvested up to 3-4 weeks ahead of schedule.

  5. What an amazing system! Everything is easier with a spreadsheet! I’ve got something less sophisticated (that I will upgrade as owe yours, thanks!) with a harvest field too. Hurrah for excel!

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