What to sow in February

If you’d like to grow food and flowers this year, here are some things to sow in February. It’s a bit of an odd month – not quite as “all systems go” as March – but as gardeners know, no matter the time of year, there are always jobs to do!

Gardening is not a race. Most of the crops below – with the exception of a few of the flowers – can also be planted in March, and even April or May. Give yourself time to enjoy the experience of seed sowing, to observe things that work well and things that don’t. The main benefit of sowing in February is to make the best use of limited windowsill space and to stagger seed-starting depending on your personal preferences.

A large black tomato held up against the garden
Black Beauty tomato

Tomatoes

If you’ll be growing tomatoes under cover for the whole season, you can start them off indoors in February. This will mean they are a good size for the end of April/beginning of May, which is when you’ll be able to move them out to your unheated polytunnel or greenhouse. (If you’re growing your tomatoes outdoors, they can’t go outside until mid May, so wait until March to sow them – otherwise they will get leggy inside and will need inconveniently large pots).

Your tomatoes will need a bit of heat to get started, so choose a windowsill near a radiator that gets plenty of light. You can also use a propagator with lights. You may find it more helpful to mist your compost with a water spray than to water directly; in these conditions and with all this heat, it is not uncommon to get mould on your compost.

Check out my seed supplier page to find lots of interesting niche tomato seed suppliers in the UK.

Chilli peppers

Unless you live far south and get warm, light weather earlier than the grey Midlands(!), I would not sow sweet peppers in February – I’d say it was too late. Chillis are much smaller plants, however, so February is still a great time to sow them. You can treat them much like tomatoes, making sure they have heat and light. They will take longer to germinate, perhaps even a couple of weeks.

Swiss and rainbow chard

Chard is one of the most resilient vegetables out there and it doesn’t mind a bit of cold. It can take a while to establish, though. Start it on a sunny windowsill in February and let it gain a few true leaves before you move it outside in late March.

Spring onions

Late February is a great time to get spring onions going, as they can go outside as early as April. Multi-sow them five or six seeds to a pot and then they will grow in ready-made bunches. They like heat to germinate and will appreciate a warm windowsill, propagator lid, or both.

Celeriac

Celeriac is one of those temperamental vegetables that grows well only if you sacrifice your first born…or have a few tricks up your sleeve. As it can take a while to germinate, I sow plenty of it, and in mid to late February. That gives ample time for these finnicky seedlings to get established before planting out in May. Make sure you prepare their bed with lots of compost or natural fertiliser, and keep them watered well. That should avoid the need for sacrifices.

Brassicas

Brassicas like cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower and kolrhabi can tolerate cooler temperatures, which means they can be moved outside sooner (just make sure you have a cloche or mini polytunnel ready to protect them if we get late season frost or snow). It is safe to sow them from mid to late February on a sunny windowsill or even in an unheated polytunnel or greenhouse; they will not need extra heat. They should come up within a week or so. Once the seedlings have true leaves, they can be moved out into an unheated polytunnel or greenhouse if you have one. If you don’t have space or time to start brassicas in February, just wait until March. This won’t affect your crop.

Rambling wildflowers

Carnations, stocks, sweet peas, snapdragons, eustoma, statice

All of these flowers can be sown in February, provided that you have good light on a windowsill or in a heated greenhouse (they will quickly grow leggy without enough light). Stocks are speedy growers, so leave them until later in the month (and resow every few weeks to stagger your harvests). Carnations and eustoma can take a while to come up and a while to get established, so will benefit from a propagator with grow lights if you have them. Remember to give sweet pea seeds a soak for a few hours before sowing.

Ranunculus and anenomes

February is the last time to get these beautiful blooms going as they prefer the cooler months for flowering. You can find a guide to starting off ranunculus and anenome corms in my What to sow in January guide.

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