What do seed packets tell you?

Front of seed packet

Saturday, January 21, 2023

Seed packets are a wealth of information on the plant.  All give you the plant common and botanical name, many show you when to plant in your zone, when to plant in relationship to your frost date, how far apart to plant, how many days from sowing until the plant is harvestable, and a detailed description of the highlights of the plant itself.  I love reading plant descriptions, looking for varieties that are "compact" and "prolific" for my small garden or "winter hardy" for winter gardening, or "heat tolerant" for summer gardening.  They give a wealth of information to decide what new variety or crop to try next.

On the front of the seed packet, you typically get the common name, the botanical name and a picture or drawing of the plant.  Some seed companies will also put a clay pot symbol on the front to indicate that the plant does well in a container (see pic of Burpee's seed packets below).  Many will also indicate if the plant is an annual or perennial (comes back every year).  Many also give a very short description of the plant.  They will also say if they are "organic" or "hybrid".  Some will also state if the plant is "open pollinated" or "heirloom".    

What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean?

Back of seed packet

On the back side of the seed packet there is a wealth of growing information.  You typically get when to plant the seed in relation to your frost date for both starting indoors and outdoors, germination time (how long does it take from when you plant the seed until it sprouts), how deep to plant the seed, any special treatment of the seed prior to planting, how far apart to space the seed, when/how to thin the emerging seedlings and days to harvest if it is an edible plant.  There is a longer description of the most desirable traits of the plant and which season it thrives in.  If a flower seed, it will give timing of flowering.   There will also be a date that the seed was packed for and a "sell by" date.  Unless you store in the refrigerator, germination rates dramatically decline after the first year and this varies by plant seed type.

Burpee's seed packet front even has the pot symbol for those that do well in  containers

Key attributes I am looking for to improve the productivity in my garden, I look for on the descriptors on the back.  Examples-if I want to maximize the harvest I get from a pepper plant, I will look for words like "prolific", "produces until frost", "continuous harvest".  If I am having a disease problem in my humid summer garden, I will look for words of "disease resistant", "powdery mildew resistant", "blight resistant" or whatever disease issue I am having.  For the best summer producers, look for terms like heat tolerant, thrives in hot temperatures.  For the best cold season crops, look for terms like "winter hardy", "frost tolerant", etc.  If you want to harvest just one time, look for the description "determinant".  

For even more information about a particular variety, check on the seed company's web site or seed catalog.  When I first started gardening, I poured over Territorial Seed catalog.  Even now if a crop isn't doing the best, I will go back and look at all the great growing information that they have for every crop they sell seeds for.  I will go on line to look at Johnny's Seeds for their seed starting date calculator.  You plug in your last frost date and it spits out the dates for you on when to plant your seeds.  Baker Heirloom Seed puts out an enormous annual catalog that dives into the history and growing of different crops.  They have a huge selection of all kinds of unusual varieties.