Selecting the best seeds for your location

Selecting the right seeds for your garden is crucial for a successful and productive harvest. Here are some of the most important things to think about as you make seed buying decisions.

Will the seed fit my location?

Choose seed varieties that will grow in your local climate. Refer to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map to determine what zone you live in. Select seeds that will grow in your zone.

Other considerations include specific temperature and climate conditions for optimal growth. As you look through seed catalogs you will notice each variety includes days till maturity information. You should match days till maturity information with your local growing season.

For example, varieties of sweet corn can range from 60 days to more than 90 days. If your growing season is 89 days, you should not purchase seeds that take more than 90 days to reach maturity. Keep in mind that these are general ranges, and the actual time to reach maturity can vary based on other factors such as local climate, soil conditions, and growing practices.

Choose varieties that are adapted to your local climate conditions. This includes heat or cold tolerance, amount of rainfall, shorter growing seasons, soil types and fertility levels. Other factors include drought tolerance, resistance to cracking and resistance to wet weather.

Some varieties were bred in certain locations throughout the United States and may be better adapted to local climate conditions. This information is often listed in seed catalogs. Reach out to gardeners or extension educators in your community to see what varieties work well in your area.

Disease and Insect Resistance

Plant breeders are constantly working to develop new varieties. Check for disease and insect resistant varieties, especially if you have had problems with these pests in your garden. All gardeners will face problems with insect damage and plant diseases.

It is important to know what problems you have dealt with in the past and select varieties that are resistant to or tolerant to pest issues you may encounter. Resistant and tolerant varieties help reduce the need for pesticides.

Heirloom Vs. Hybrid

An heirloom plant refers to a type of plant, usually open-pollinated, that has been passed on from generation to generation. Heirlooms are valued from their historical, cultural, and sometimes sentimental significance.

Open-pollinated refers to a type of pollination in plants where pollen is transferred naturally between plants within the same species. This process allows for the exchange of genetic material between different individuals of the same plant species. Open-pollinated plants produce seeds that, when saved and replanted, yield offspring with traits similar to those of the parent plants.

Heirloom plants provide genetic stability and consistent traits compared to hybrids. This stability allows gardeners to save seeds from one generation to the next while maintaining the desired characteristics of the plant.

Hybrid plants result when two different parent varieties of the same species cross-pollinate. This crossbreeding is a controlled process done by plant breeders to achieve specific desirable traits in the offspring. These crossings result in desirable traits like increased yield, disease resistance, uniformity, or other characteristics.

Hybridization can occur naturally, but in agriculture, it is often carried out through controlled pollination to create plants with specific features.

Location, Location, Location

When it all comes down to it, it is all a matter of location. Success depends on matching the variety with the environment. If you have a high tunnel, the conditions are going to be vastly different than if you are planting in a garden. The same holds true for container gardens and traditional gardens. The best advice you can get for selecting seeds is to match the seed with where the seed will be grown.