February Seedlings in the Vegetable Garden | Terra Potager

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• Learn to harvest all year round
• Shop
  • Our calendar/almanac
  • Our ACD greenhouses
  • The vegetable garden magazine
  • Order seeds
  • Gardening products, fertilizers
  • Online course 'I succeed with my tomatoes'
• Vegetable garden tips
• Themes
  • Successful seedlings and plants
  • Soil: amendments, fertilizers, compost
  • Vegetable gardening techniques
  • Pests in the vegetable garden
  • Growing vegetables
  • Flowers, aromatic and medicinal plants, biodiversity
• Connect
• Contact

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Do you want to learn how to grow your own vegetables? With the Terra almanac, you will never forget your sowing: just open your file, look at the current month, and you will have all the sowings to perform (explained in detail), allowing you to produce vegetables all year round.

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Despite winter still being very present, February marks the beginning of a new season for all of us gardeners. Whether under cover or in open ground depending on the regions, it is the ideal time to anticipate the harvests of spring and summer. But be careful, you should not sow just anything, or you risk having significant disappointments. Let's discover together the essential seedlings to start the year well in the vegetable garden.

Summary

• Too early to sow full summer crops except for a few exceptions...
• Snow peas and small peas
• Broad beans
• Swiss chard and beets
• Lettuce
• Onions and shallots
• Garlic
• Spinach
• Cabbages
• Radishes
• Carrots

Too early to sow full summer crops except for a few exceptions…

To be clear and precise, it is too early to sow your summer crops, especially those whose seedlings grow quickly. Forget about zucchini, squash, cucumbers, watermelons, melons, sunflowers, corn, beans… These seedlings take just 4 or 5 weeks to develop in pots. They are sensitive to frost. So wait until March, or even April, to sow them.

Some summer crop seedlings take a bit longer to develop. We think of tomato seedlings, which require 6 to 8 weeks to go from a small seed to a beautiful plant. But even with such a duration, for a planting scheduled for mid-May, a sowing in March is more than sufficient. Only gardeners growing under a greenhouse can start this sowing as early as February to plant in April.

Three other summer crops require even more time to produce beautiful plants. These are eggplants, peppers, and chilies. Count easily 10 weeks to go from seed to a beautiful plant. Unless you have a sowing room or a piece of furniture with heating to raise the temperature to 25° and LEDs to light for 14 hours a day. Under these conditions, the plants are ready in 6 weeks. For example, I sow these crops at the end of the month.

They germinate in trays at home near a heat source (radiator). Later, the plants are exposed to maximum light, behind a bay window. Two months after sowing, the plants are ready for the vegetable garden.

Now let's look at the many early seedlings you can sow starting this month without chasing too much heat or light. Often, they will need to be sown under cover to gain a bit of precocity, or simply wait until the second half of February.

Snow peas and small peas

They can be sown in open ground in the mildest climates. Wait until the end of the month. There is no need to rush with the soil still very cold in early February. They will take about 20 days to germinate, but they will germinate.

In cooler climates, the simplest method, if you are equipped, is to sow under a greenhouse: the soil is generally drained, slightly warmed: expect about ten to fifteen days before germination and significantly earlier harvests than outdoors!

If you want to plant outdoors and you are also in a cool climate, you can attempt a first sowing in large pots, 8 to 9 cm in diameter. Sow 6 to 8 seeds per pot that you place at home or under a greenhouse. 20 to 30 days later, you will already have beautiful plants ready to be transplanted. You can leave them grouped together as they are in the pots. This is called “planting in clusters.” You will have clusters of 6 to 8 plants of small peas or snow peas, spaced at least 20 cm apart.

Broad beans

Like small peas and snow peas, they can germinate with soil temperatures below 10°. Since these crops dislike summer heat, it is a good idea not to delay sowing them too much. In mild climates, go ahead with some sowings in open ground, preferably towards the end of the month. Here in my Mediterranean climate, I prefer to wait until March to sow larger quantities. Only a few seeds are sown in February. In March, the soil is warmer, germination is much faster, 10 days instead of 20 or 30… However, I do make a first sowing this month with this crop, but in pots, 3 seeds per large pot. Like the peas and snow peas, transplanting into open ground will be done in just 3 to 4 weeks.

It will also be just as simple, if your climate is not too hot, to sow under a greenhouse.

Swiss chard and beets

Here are two other crops that can be sown in February. Prefer a sowing under cover, at home or under a greenhouse, in pots or in trays. You are guaranteed to be protected from severe frosts, excess moisture, and pests. These two crops are often grouped together for sowing because they are similar. We sow what are called clumps. Each gives you 2 to 3 plants per pot. Keep them that way and transplant as is in five to six weeks, between late March and mid to late April depending on the climates (we provide you with all the sowing dates for all vegetables in our sowing calendar). The young plants will withstand the last frosts of the season. You will obtain beautiful bunches of Swiss chard or beets by the end of spring.

Lettuce

They can be sown almost all year round. But the interseasons are ideal for enjoying them even more, before and after the full boom of summer vegetable harvests. Sow a few seeds in trays, preferably germinating under cold cover or at room temperature at home. As soon as they germinate, be careful, the plants will stretch very quickly if they lack light. Here they go to the greenhouse, without heating. In pots, the plants enjoy full light and moderate temperatures. Planting is done well six weeks after sowing with plants that will withstand the last frosts of the season.

Onions and shallots

They can be planted from small bulbs, in March or April, May at the latest. But you can also start these crops from seeds to discover varieties other than those usually sown as bulbs. For this, you need to start early. February is already the last deadline. A few seeds in trays, the same process as for lettuce, and two months later, you will have beautiful little plants of onions and shallots.

Garlic

It can also join the party starting this month of February. Either by planting a few cloves of garlic in pots, one per pot, if the soil is frozen, too cold, or too wet. Or directly in open ground if your climate allows it. Knowing that garlic withstands frost perfectly but hates excess moisture, risking the cloves rotting in the ground. Here in a mild climate, pink garlic (prefer this one to plant at the beginning of the year rather than white or purple garlic) has already been in the ground since the very beginning of February. It is already starting to germinate!

Spinach

Another crop that thrives in mid-season climates. The first sowings in open ground can be considered in February, only in mild climates or under a greenhouse. Otherwise, prefer sowing in trays, 3 seeds per cell. Avoid sowing in trays or pots, as the crop does not lend itself well to that. But in small cells, the roots are well protected. You can easily transplant your spinach plants in clusters of 3 plants, every 10 centimeters in the ground.

Cabbages

Like lettuce, they are a crop that can be sown almost all year round. In February, you can start sowing for harvesting cabbages, broccoli, cauliflowers… by the end of spring. Sow 2 to 3 seeds per cell or in pots. If everything germinates, keep only one plant per pot. You will obtain beautiful plants by the end of March that are not affected by the last frosts of the season.

Radishes

Finally, you can start a first sowing of radishes. However, be careful, this crop loves light for the radishes to develop beautiful roots. Otherwise, you will only have foliage, beautiful greens to console you. Sow in full light, preferably at the end of the month. Under a greenhouse, you can start sowing as early as February. However, double the time between sowing and harvesting compared to the indicated dates. A radish that takes 18 days will take about 40 days from seed to plate. Because the soil is still cold, and the days are still not very bright. So, patience is required...

Carrots

Yes, carrots can be sown as early as the beginning of February BUT under a greenhouse, or under a small tunnel. It works very well. Count several weeks for germination, but it will eventually happen. If you don’t have much time to tend to the sowing, you can place a small tarp over it and uncover it after 15 days: the moisture stays well under the tarp and the soil warms up even more.

That’s it for the many crops you can already think about to kick off this new season. Remember to wait for all summer crops for which you would be bothered to have plants too early in the season, which could suffer from the first frost that comes. So it’s your turn to play, your turn to sow!