Direct Sowing or Transplanting Vegetables: Pros, Cons, and Tips

When I started my first vegetable garden more than 30 years ago, I puzzled over whether to direct sow my seeds in the soil, start them indoors on a windowsill or just buy seedlings from the garden center. So many options!  

I soon learned that I didn’t need to pick just one planting technique. In fact, vegetable gardeners generally use a combination of direct sowing and transplanting, with the planting method based on the individual crop and the length of the local growing season.

For example, tomatoes are typically transplanted because the growing season for most gardeners in North America isn’t long enough for direct-sown tomato plants to grow, flower and produce mature fruits. Spinach, on the other hand, is a quick-growing green that doesn’t transplant well and should be direct seeded outdoors. There are also crops that can be direct sown or transplanted; these include broccoli, cabbage, cucumber, kale, lettuce and all kinds of squash.

Related: Learn about five types of vegetable gardens, from in-ground gardens to raised beds and everything in between, in “5 Techniques for Growing a Vegetable Garden”

How do you decide which method of starting vegetables is best? When deciding whether to plant seeds indoors or outdoors, the best place to start is the seed packet. Most companies include planting tips on the back of the envelope to make it easy for the gardener. You may also find recommendations on timing, spacing and planting depth.

Seed packets and seed catalogs also list “days to maturity,” the time it takes for a plant to go from seed to harvest. To ensure success you need to grow crops whose days to maturity fit the length of your growing season.

Related: “8 Things to Look for on a Seed Packet”

Direct sowing is simply planting seeds outdoors in garden beds or containers. It’s an economical way to plant a vegetable garden. It also takes less time and hands-on work than starting seeds indoors, and it uses no interior space. Direct seeding is ideal for crops that don’t transplant well, like spinach, and those that are quick to grow, like radishes and bush beans.

Related: “Seeds to Sow in the Garden in Spring”

There are many vegetables and herbs whose seeds should be planted outdoors. These include root crops like carrots, parsnips, turnips and radishes, as well as those that don’t transplant well, like spinach, corn and bush beans. I also like to direct sow many types of fast-growing leafy greens because they’re so quick to go from seed to harvest. Best bets are arugula, leaf lettuce, mustard and mizuna. As for herbs, I plant cilantro, dill and borage seeds outdoors.When to direct sow seeds

The timing of direct sowing depends on the type of crop. Pea seeds, for example, tolerate cold. They can be planted in early spring as soon as the ground has thawed and is workable. Cucumber, on the other hand, is a warm-season vegetable that should be direct sown in late spring once the last frost date has passed and the soil has warmed.

As planting time nears, I prep my garden beds so they’re ready to go. I pull any weeds and loosen the soil with a garden fork. I also apply a one- to two-inch layer of compost or rotted manure to each raised bed. You may also wish to add an organic fertilizer to the garden prior to planting.

There are several ways to direct sow seeds. You can plant in rows, bands or blocks. To plant a row or band of seeds, I use a garden hoe to create a furrow, which is a shallow trench, to the appropriate depth. Typically garden seeds are planted at a depth two to three times their diameter. A tiny carrot seed is planted just a quarter of an inch deep, while a larger bean seed is planted a half-inch to one inch deep.

Sow the seeds in the furrow, spacing them at the right distance. This information should be listed on the seed packet. Because seeds that are direct sown outdoors experience more challenges (like weather and pests) than seeds started inside, I like to sow extra seeds as garden insurance. In the event all the seeds sprout, you can thin out the extra seedlings.

Once the seeds are planted, carefully push the excavated soil back over the furrow so they’re at the right depth. Water the bed and add a label to mark the row. I jot down the type of crop as well as variety name and planting date.

After direct sowing, there are a few tasks you can do to boost germination. First, stay on top of soil moisture. If the germinating seeds are allowed to dry out, they’ll die. I check my newly planted beds every day, watering when necessary. The goal is to maintain a lightly moist soil.

Another task is thinning. When the seedlings are a couple of inches tall, thin them to the proper distance by snipping off the extras at the soil surface. Don’t yank them out because they could dislodge nearby seedlings. I use garden snips to quickly and easily thin seedlings.

Now that we know more about direct sowing, let’s look at transplanting, the other technique for planting vegetables. Transplanting is the process of taking a seedling that was started indoors weeks or even months ago and planting it in your garden. 

One of the biggest benefits of transplanting is that it allows you to get a head start on the growing season. This is ideal if you’re growing long-season crops like tomatoes and peppers. Other crops that do best as transplants include celery, eggplant, onions, leeks and melons.

Planting seedlings can also give you a more uniform and reliable harvest. For example, although I have time in my growing season to direct sow vegetables like cabbage and broccoli, I find the very young seedlings are exposed to fluctuating weather conditions and pests like slugs. By starting the seeds indoors and plugging sturdy young plants into my beds, I bypass this vulnerable stage. The transplanted seedlings grow at approximately the same rate and I enjoy a consistent and uniform harvest.

Lastly, transplanting reduces the need to thin your rows or beds. This is because seedlings are transplanted at the proper spacing.

All that said, there are a drawbacks to transplanting. The biggest issue is cost in both time and resources. If you’re starting a lot of seeds indoors, you’ll need to have plenty of windowsill or grow-light space to ensure healthy plant growth. If you plan on buying seedlings from a local nursery or garden center, you may find that it’s cost prohibitive. This is why I use both planting techniques in my garden. I transplant long-season and heat-loving crops, and direct sow root vegetables and fast-growing crops.

If you’ve started your own seeds indoors, begin to harden off the seedlings about a week before you intend to move them to the garden. This acclimates them to sun, wind and other outdoor growing conditions.

Related: “Seed-Starting Tips Plus How to Care for Seedlings”

If you’re buying seedlings from a nursery, they’re usually hardened off and ready to be planted. Be sure to select garden center seedlings that are vigorous, uniform in size and color and free from pests. Avoid buying overly mature vegetable seedlings that are already flowering or fruiting.

I pick a cloudy or drizzly day to transplant seedlings, or I plant later in the afternoon. This reduces stress on the plants and helps them settle into the garden. As with direct seeding, it’s important to prepare the site before transplanting. Remove weeds and amend the bed with compost or rotted manure. I also recommend watering your seedlings a few hours in advance of planting them.

Carefully slip the seedling from its pot or cell pack. Don’t try to pull it out by the stem because that can damage the delicate young plant. If the seedlings are in biodegradable containers, either plant the pots deep enough that the entire container is below the soil level or peel the pot away from the root ball before transplanting.

Dig the planting hole just a bit larger than the size of the rootball. Most types of vegetables are transplanted at the same depth they were growing in their pots. There are a few exceptions to this, including tomatoes and tomatillos, which can be planted very deeply. They can produce roots all along their stems, so deep planting produces a robust root system.

After placing the seedling in the planting hole, refill it with the excavated soil, gently firming around the seedling. Water to eliminate air pockets around the roots and keep the small plants hydrated. Continue to water every day or two if the weather is dry for the first 7 to 10 days.