When trying to decide between starting your garden from seeds in the ground or from transplants you need to consider the following:
Do I have the space required to start transplants in my home?
Developing transplants especially for a large garden can become rather space intensive. This is interior space you are considering so it needs to be indoors, get plenty of light and be out of reach of any harm that may come to them. The space doesn’t necessarily have to become messy, but factor in enough plants and dirt and it’s inevitable that the space will get a little dirty.
Do I have the time available to develop seedlings into transplants?
Starting your plants as seedlings can be very rewarding but also time intensive. If you are planning a smaller garden or planning on minimum work in your garden you may want to consider buying your transplants from local gardeners or greenhouses. This saves you a lot of time and lets you start your garden with superior plants as they have been grown from local professionals. Once My father started buying his tomato plants from a small local greenhouse down the street his crop yield nearly doubled.
Does the vegetable I’m growing have a good success rate starting from seed or is a transplant better?
This is a per vegetable question and also a question about your climate zone, weather etc. You need to research and consider each vegetable separately. Some may do well starting from seed some may not. Some plants will easily survive being transplanted, some hate it. Trial and error will teach you a lot so keep records in your gardening notebook.
| Best for Transplanting | Best from Seeds in ground |
| Broccoli | Corn |
| Brussel Sprouts | Cucumber |
| Cabbage | Okra |
| Cauliflower | Peas |
| Chard | Squash |
| Lettuce | Watermelons |
| Tomatoes |
