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Growing Herbs at HomeMar 4, 2025
How to Read a Seed Packet
Starting your plants from seed is a great way to save money while gardening, but it can take more effort. When done right, it’s a low-cost way to try out new plants. And while skipping over the instructions on the seed packet may be tempting, especially when it seems like it’s written in a foreign language, this tiny paper is packed with all the information you need to grow your plants successfully!
Learn how to decipher all of the info on a seed packet, from the variety to preferred planting conditions.
Note: You may want to read with this Glossary open – it details many useful terms!
A. Know Your Plants
The seed description section includes a photo or illustration of the plant at full maturity, along with its botanical name in italics and common name for identification. Many plants can have the same or similar common names, making it vital to learn the botanical names of your favorite herbs! The same plants can also come in different varieties like fun varying colors or can be bred for desirable characteristics (see Hybrid in our glossary). This way you know what you’re getting and can decide if it works for your own garden.
B. When to Plant
This section tells you which month you can plant your seeds in. Based on where you live, planting in a specific month or range of months improves viability. On some seed packets, this section will also give you valuable information about when and where to sow the seeds, like starting them indoors in the warm greenhouse or outdoors directly in the soil. Keep an eye out for instructions on planting before or after the frost date. A color-coded US map may be added to show the range of months to plant in.
C. Small Details Are a Big Deal
The weight or number of seeds helps you figure out how many packets are needed to fill your space. Other important callouts are the certification badges. Look out for the green and white USDA Organic logo, or Regenerative Organic Certified® logo – our seed packets are filled with seeds from our ROC™ farms! Less-known certifications are Demeter Certified Biodynamic® for certified biodynamic farming or Certified Naturally Grown (CNG), a peer-reviewed farmer or beekeeper certification.
D. What to Expect
Getting a heads-up on what to expect from your seeds can be helpful for planning your space. Most important, if the plant is an annual or perennial. Annuals only grow for one year, while perennials come back year after year from the same root. Some annuals readily self-seed, so while the original plant dies, the seeds it made are scattered around where the original one grew.
E. Basic Planting Instructions
Just like people have preferences, plants do too. Each species of plant has individual needs and varying light, water, and soil requirements to help it thrive.
When planting seeds, put them in a spot that matches the level of sunshine needed. Light requirements are based on amounts of direct sun per day. They can range from full shade, full sun, or partial shade/part sun.
F. Consider Depth & Spacing
Don’t overlook the important guidance on planting depth and spacing between plants, as it increases the seeds sprouting and making it to a mature plant. It may prefer to be buried deep or may require light to germinate and only need a sprinkling of dirt on top. The spacing requirements are listed to take in consideration the size of the mature plant. When grown too close together, plants are at higher risk for fungal disease and may be crowded out or stunted from not getting enough light.
G. Watch the Calendar
Days to emerge tells you when to expect sprouts coming out of the soil, while days to maturity tells you when the plant will be at full growth. Similarly, days to harvest gives an idea of when the plant will produce fruit and is ready to harvest. Knowing the amount of days to maturity, blooms, or harvesting is especially helpful for those in cooler climates to help decide if that time frame is enough before the weather changes in your area.
There’s More to Learn
Now that you’ve got the basics down, keep the learning journey going by checking out 5 of our tips for successfully growing plants from seed.
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