Each year we are fascinated by all the beautiful seed catalogs that arrive in the mail. Flipping through the pages of charming vintages and amazing new varieties is one of the best ways to spend a winter’s day. But whether you’re new to gardening or an old hand, understanding all the nuances of seed lists can be challenging and getting it right can make a big difference in your garden’s productivity.
In today’s post, we’re going to talk about how to ‘filter’ all of your seed catalogs so you can choose the varieties with disease resistance, soil requirements, and growing season that work best for your garden.
Locate Seed Companies
Buying seeds from companies that grow in your region is a good way to ensure that you are getting varieties that will thrive in your climate. Here in the Southeast, we often look for plants that will tolerate long, hot, humid summers, common pests like vine borers, fungal diseases like blight, and mild winters.
That said, planting seeds outside of your area isn’t a bad idea, but there are some factors to keep in mind. Therefore, it is important to check the address in the catalog and find out where their seed test gardens grow.
When browsing northern catalogs, take sun requirements with a grain of salt. Varieties that thrive in full sun in Maine may enjoy afternoon shade in Georgia. Plants tend to take longer to mature in cooler summers, in the north, so ‘harvest days’ may differ from what they would be in a southern garden.
Many farmers in the Northeast are breeding for disease resistance. You can find interesting new brands to check out in their catalogs. Cool-season plants from the Northeast and Pacific Northwest may do well growing in the mild winters of the Southeast.
Catalogs from California and the Southwest may also offer good heat-tolerant and drought-tolerant plants to consider, although they may not tolerate our humidity. California catalogs are also a good source of Asian heirloom vegetables.
Understand Maturity Dates or Harvest Dates
Most farmers know that days to maturity is a rough measure of the number of days a crop takes to mature enough to harvest. But there are some nuances in this number.
When talking about transplants, days to maturity usually refer to the number of days to harvest from the time you plant the transplant in the field, not from the date you started it indoors. When sowing directly, the day begins when the seed enters the soil.
Occasionally, seed packets and catalogs may specify whether the number refers to direct-sown seed or transplants.
It can also be very different when you are talking about vegetables. Does the maturity date refer to full heads of lettuce or large bunches of chard, or does it refer to baby salad greens? Sometimes, descriptions like ours for Barese Chard will specify: 25 days for baby greens/50 days for mature leaves.
Remember that conditions will also affect maturity dates. Cool spring nights will make heat-loving plants like tomatoes grow slower. Decreased day length in the fall can significantly reduce fall crops such as lettuce. In the fall, we recommend that you add 14 days to the maturity dates for any varieties you will direct and 14 to 28 days for any varieties you will plant.
Read more in our post, When to Plant a Fall Garden.
See Keys to Disease Resistance
Disease resistance is an important factor in choosing the best varieties for your garden. These days, many catalogs show resistance to various diseases using codes and keys.
For example, in our seed catalog you will notice our best tomato, Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter (vw, fw1). If you check the key, you will notice that this means it is resistant to Verticillium wilt (vw) and Fusarium wilt, race 1 (fw1).
*Note: For heirloom tomatoes, lack of disease resistance in the description does not necessarily mean lack of resistance. Most heirloom tomatoes are not extensively tested for disease tolerance either in the laboratory, or in extensive field trials.
Below are our keys to disease resistance for tomatoes and cucumbers. Some catalogs may use different keys, so it’s important to check each one.
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Some plants in our catalog also include disease resistance information, although it is obvious from the description. For example, the description for Golden Bush Scallop Summer Squash is, “Downy mildew resistant.”
Gardeners in the southeast should focus on heat
If you are growing in the Southeast and buying summer plants, heat tolerance should be a major focus. Consider varieties with phrases like drought tolerant, heat tolerant, and good pollination in hot weather.
A long summer also means a short spring, so we need to choose our cool season plants carefully. Look for keywords like short season, early, bolt resistance, and long holding.
Consider Gardening During the Shoulder Seasons
Especially in the Deep South, it may be wise to plan a break during the height of summer. Few plants really thrive in extreme heat. However, long seasons often make it easier to plant one crop in early summer and another in early fall.
For example, you can harvest early-ripening tomatoes like Djena Lee’s Golden Girl (64 days), Pink Ozark VF (65 days), or Rosella Purple (65 days) in early summer. Then start more seeds indoors in July and get another plant as the season cools in early fall.
Understanding what to look for in seed catalogs can make a big difference in your garden. Select your catalogs this season to find varieties that will perform well in your climate, thrive against local disease pressure, and fit into your succession plan.
Much of this information was based on Ira Wallace’s Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast. Grab a copy today for monthly advice.
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