How soon can you start to harvest vegetable seeds? On each of the product pages here on Growseed each variety is broken down to Sow, Transplant and Harvest dates.
Here is a complete break down of each vegetable type.
Vegetable Seed Harvest Times
The guide above is a rough outline depending the variety the days maybe +/- 10 days or so.
3 Vegetable seeds you can sow for the quickest harvest
If you are looking to sow and grow in the quickest time frame possible these are the 3 best crops to focus on.
Radish
A very quick maturing crop and very easy to grow sow the seeds 2cm apart. Cover with soil and give a light watering. Once first signs of growth water regular to encourage the plant to grow a nice large bulb.
Common Radish Problems: Under watering resulting in small thin crops.
Spinach
Best to sow for a winter crop as the heat during the summer months can cause this vegetable to bolt. Sow 15-30cm apart water regular cuttings can be taken from 35-40 days the plant will reach full maturity within 50-60 days.
Tip: Radish can be grown all winter outside or undercover. It's an excellent early harvest and winter crop when there is little else on the plot.
Lettuce
If you intent to grow a baby leaf lettuce then sow all the seeds in a shallow tray once a tray full of leafs have appeared normally within 20-30 days cut them back to harvest.
Growing as a main crop sow in trays to start and transplant once each plant has 4-6 leafs the lettuce can be harvested whole after 60 days.
Tip: Grow lettuce all year and sow regular every week to ensure a constant supply. With salad bowl variates harvest the outer leafs to encourage growth.
3 Crops to avoid if space is limited
If you have limited space to grow, then you need to get the most out of what little space you have. It's recommended to avoid crops that require a long time in the ground as these tend to take up valuable growing space where quicker or shorter growing crops could be grown instead.
Garlic
Fully grown within 240-330 days garlic requires a long growing season and can take up space to other high value crops. If you still intend on having a garlic crop Red Duke or Picardy Wight are both excellent varieties to grow as they both produce a small tight bulb that can be grown in a pot should you wish to save space.
Cabbage
Not only does cabbage take 240 days to grow but the large leafs they produce can consume valuable growing space around them making interplanting and sowings very difficult.
If you love cabbage but space and crop management is key it's worth trying dutchman due to its all slender shape there is little additional foliage which allows for additional crops to be sown between cabbage rows.
Asparagus
Starting from seed and you need to wait at least 2 years! Young crowns can only be harvest after 12 months and it's recommenced to take only 1 -2 spears per crown. A full harvest can be taken after 3 years of growth and can be enjoyed for another 15-20 years before the crop needs to be replaced.
One of the most space demanding and low yielding crops you can grow for the first 3 years.
