One of the most important tools you have as a gardener is the back of a seed packet. These underrated envelopes give you a guide on timing for planting, methods, and much more.
Understanding everything on the back of the packet will help you succeed in starting and planting seeds for any type of garden you wish to grow. Starting from seeds is an extremely cost effective way to grow flowers and vegetables alike.
To capture this crucial knowledge, a little overview on how to read a seed packet, will help you harvest the information for a bumper crop down the road.
What’s on the Back of a Seed Packet?
What appears on the back of a seed packet will depend to some extent on the producer of the seed. There are common bits of information on all, but some seed producers give a more extensive overview of the variety.
While figuring out how to read seed packets, note the germination time. This will decide when you plant the seeds. There is usually a little map of the country with colored regions. Find your growing zone and the corresponding planting time.
Knowing this seed packet info will ensure you don’t plant too early or too late. Other information that will be valuable:
- Planting depth
- Plant height at maturity
- Plant spacing
- Planting instructions
- Plant description
- Use by date
Keep precious seeds safe in this adorable seed storage box. Includes jute string and bamboo plant labels.
Words You May See on the Back of a Seed Packet
The packet may further classify the plant. It may be an heirloom variety, a hybrid, or carry resistance to something. Decoding the hybrid information is especially difficult unless you are a pro.
Hybrids, also called F1 seeds, are cultivars bred for specific traits. A seed’s resistance to something is designated by letters referencing that disease. For instance, BLS, meaning bacterial leaf spot.
- Cultivar: This will delineate whether a plant is heirloom, hybrid, open pollinated, or another group.
- Heirloom: Heirloom plants may also be referred to as open pollinated. Heirloom seeds are generally 50-100 years old.
- Hybrid: Hybrids are the result of crossing at least 2 plants in the same species. The progeny of these 2 plants will carry special traits.
- Resistance: This is most often resistance to certain diseases, but could refer to deer resistance or other pest tolerance.
- Logos indicating the seed is Certified Organic or Non-GMO.
How to Read a Seed Packet
There are many helpful bits of information you can glean from reading a seed packet. Taking the time to read the packet will help you decide many critical factors that will ensure the best plant growth and harvest. Some packets will also give information on lighting preferences, water needs, and soil type.
- When to start the seed: This will often be shown on a map, or it may specify zonal information. The packet may simply say, “when all danger of frost has passed”, which will depend on your zone and microclimate. It may also tell you if you can start the seeds indoors or outside.
- How far to space the plants: The size at maturity is the basis for seed spacing. To avoid wasting seed and having to thin the little plants, spacing can ensure the plants have enough room to grow. Very small seed is often pelletized to help plant spacing.
- Perennial or Annual: This information could vary by your zone. Some plants are perennial or semi-perennial in warmer regions, while cooler climates will have to grow the seed as an annual.
- Maturity and harvest time: This will give a guess at how many days from planting to harvest. Of course, that will vary depending on soil, site, cultural care, zone, and more.
- Thinning instructions: Some plants will have to be thinned to make sure the maturing plants have enough space to grow. This is often the case with tiny, non- pelletized seeds.
- Whether succession planting is an option: Crops such as cool season plants will usually be started in the spring and are done producing in the heat of summer. But the packet may mention that you can start a fall crop and indicate when.
- Days to germination: Those first sprouts are what gardeners look forward to all winter. Knowing approximate germination time will also help you plan when to plant in your zone.
- What area the seed will cover: If you are sowing a whole packet of seed, this information will tell you how many square feet or meters.
- The company name, address, and website: The website may have further tips on growing, care, and harvest.
- Lot number and growing year the seed was packaged for: Older, expired seeds have variable germination. For best results, use seed that is no older than 2 years.
Choosing the Right Seeds for Your Garden
Your options really depend upon your preferences. There are plenty of seeds available that are not in a category, but simply seeds for a plant. You might also opt to have an entirely organic garden and only use certified organic seeds.
Selecting only heirlooms means you can save seeds. Saving seed from hybrids may not result in plants true to the parent. There are also non-GMO crops available. These are all natural and have not been genetically modified.
