What To Sow in January In UK Gardens & Greenhouses
January is a Cold Month & There’s No Hurry To Sow Most Veg. But The Days In The UK Are Finally Getting Longer. Here’s What I’m Sowing In My Southern England Garden.
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I say southern England garden as so much depends on your growing conditions. As I write this we’ve recently had below very mixed weather on the south Devon coast where I live, and there’s the promise of more cold weather to follow over the next few months.
If you are at higher altitudes or further north the weather is likely to be worse and your local growing conditions need taking into account. That’s why the advice given on seed packets is very general guidance at best. Don’t rigidly follow it, ask others in your area what works for them, experiment, and take notes for the next year and beyond.
Below is my sowing list. It suits me but will not suit everyone, even some of those in my part of the world. I see a lot of people saying not to sow anything until mid February. It’s point of view I’m not going to argue with … life’s too short. Also bear in mind that some crops can be started in the house or greenhouse and grown in a greenhouse or tunnel. Also bear in mind that some crops can be harvested as immature plants. For example broad beans can be sown very densely in containers or the beds under glass or tunnels and harvested as fresh shoots. They don’t have to be grown to maturity, though I usually intend to grow some of my broad beans for pods.
Some of my gardening colleagues advise not sowing anything in January. They say they too often get problems planting out later in the season when the weather is still poor. I’ll not argue with their experience. But my experience is that when I planted out tens of thousands of lettuce and celery in Bedfordshire (a cold county) in March I had no problems. Admittedly the wind sometimes removed every leaf from plants, but they always sprang back into growth and we had high quality crops. Some of my crops here are also for growing under cover for leaf or shoot crops.
What Does “Outdoors – Under Cover” Mean
I have divided the crop headings below into – Outdoor – Under Cover. Some people query what I mean by under cover. It’s often used by market gardeners to normally mean under the cover of a greenhouse, polytunnel or maybe cold frame. It could sometimes also mean under a cloche. When I first used the term the quality of horticultural fleeces was poor and few people would have attempted to sow under them in December. But they are now much better quality so we could now, perhaps, include sowing outdoors under the cover of a fleece as being “under cover”. Like most horticultural terms there is some fluidity in these terms and they can arguably mean whatever we want them to mean!
Here’s What I’m Sowing in January
Broad Beans – Outdoor – Under Cover
Broad beans are at the top of my list all winter. They tolerate the cold and germinate at very low temperatures. Having said that, if you sow into a cold wet clay or frozen soil they will not grow, They will rot!
And working wet soil is a bad idea anyway .. so don’t attempt to direct sow anything when it’s too wet. What you can do is to sow in pots and transplant when conditions improve. I used to use “whalehide pots”. Don’t worry, there are no whales involved. Whalehides are pots that can be planted in the soil at transplanting time and will then decompose.
Broad Beans and Peas for January for a Bean & Pea Shoot Harvest: Keep Planting Peas Throughout January
Just top them up with compost, sow a broad bean an inch or just over deep in them and put them in a sheltered spot. A windowsill is OK provided it’s not too warm. A cold frame is even better. I’ve even shoved them under a hedge where they are sheltered from the wind. Even if it snows they get protected and you should get a high germination rate. The main thing is to give them plenty of light once they push up their cotyledons.
Peas – Outdoor – Under Cover
Peas are as hardy as broad beans. I’ll be sowing some in large pots for pea shoots in the next few days. They can be started in a cold greenhouse then placed outside when you need the space for spring sowings. And if you’ve no greenhouse they could go outside from day one. They’ll take longer to germinate but will grow given time. But beware mice. They will welcome a feast of pea seeds if they find them. Protecting the top of the pot with well-secured fine wire mesh helps! In the old days, gardeners soaked their peas in paraffin before sowing but that’s not advised today.
Pea, on December 30th, sown in an unheated greenhouse, during the freeze, on December 11th.
An alternative sowing method is to sow in an old gutter. Drill a few drainage holes in it first. Top up with compost and then sow. Once the crop is established they can be transferred to the garden soil by gently sliding the rooted mass of plants out of the gutter into a shallow drill/trench. It’s a fiddle but doable!
The above applies to peas for shoots or pods.
The image of the pea shoot here was taken on December 30th, sown in an unheated greenhouse, during the freeze, on December 11th. Peas are tough little blighters and will germinate at very low temperatures. I’ll be sowing more in January a din the following months to ensure succession of pea shoots, mange tout and pods.
Sprouted Seeds & Microgreens to Sow in January – Under Cover
So far I’ve covered a few things to plant in the garden. But veg isn’t restricted to the garden. There are a host of seeds that can be sown as microgreens or sprouted seeds.
Back to the greenhouse and garden ….
Aubergines – Under Cover
Aubergine Can be Sown in January – April
I’m seeing an increasing number of people recommend aubergines should be sown now, I disagree. Unless you have a heated greenhouse I believe it’s far too early for aubergines. They are a warmth-loving plant and need leaving a few months in my experience. I used to sow commercial crops in March and plants out bout 6 weeks later .. and had huge crops in polytunnels.
Chillies – Under Cover
I’ve grown chillies on a commercial basis and sowed them much later than now. But chilli aficionados tell me that the earlier you sow the hotter the chilli. That’s fine if you have a warm place to grow them, but heating greenhouses is very expensive …. I know I had half an acre of heated glass at one time. Single glazed greenhouses are a great way to increase global warming! I now prefer to work with nature, not against it.
Tomatoes – Under Cover
As someone that grew 10,000 plants or more a year I can say that I think it’s far too early for most gardeners to sow toms this month. People tell me I can keep a few plants going in pots in the house until it’s time to plant them out. But that means they will have flowered and set fruit by the time I can safely plant them out. If you have suitable conditions indoors and enough space it is possible but not everyone has the expertise to grow good quality plants this way.
Even as a commercial grower I didn’t start this early. Though a few friends, with huge commercial setups, started sowing in October or November. Their heating bill was eye wateringly high. And today, with current energy prices that figure will be huge.
My guess is no amateur could match their equipment or expertise. Don’t go there yet!
Cauliflower – Under Cover
It’s not too early for cauliflower. Sown now they could be harvested in June/July. Start them in plug trays and transfer to pots until bg enough to plant out. Varieties such as All The Year Around seem to work well in some gardens.
Alternatively, sow them in drills in the greenhouse border and then plant out when conditions are good. But be careful to ensure they grow without a check or they could bolt before heading properly.
Shallots – Under Cover
I shall be sowing Figaro shallots in a few weeks. They did well from early sowing last year and I’ll be multi sowing them in modules again. Figaro are a banana shallot and easy to handle in the kitchen as they are far less fiddly than traditional shallots.
Leeks – Under Cover
We are well into leek harvest at present and now is a good time to start our summer crops of leeks. Varieties such as Lyon Prizetaker will be ready in August. If you prefer an earlier crop go for Nipper when give an excellent crop of baby leeks. Seed is very hard to find and I may just have bought the last of it! From a spring sowing, they can be cropped in ten weeks. This time of year they will take longer but still give a relatively quick crop that can be followed by a crop of lettuce, carrots, beet, beans or whatever you prefer.
Onions – Under Cover
January is the month for sowing prize winning onions for exhibition showing. They grow huge bulbs .. that are largely inedible. So I prefer to wait a while and sow a variety such as Bedfordshire Champion in another six weeks at the earliest.
Lettuce
Lettuce are tough little blighters. I’ve sown in January, planted in the field in late Feb, and seen the wind strip every leaf off the plants. A few weeks later the plant has then thrown new shoots and sprung back into life. From these “decimated” crops I’ve harvested superb outdoor lettuce crops in May.
Keep the plants in the greenhouse border and a crop sown now and grown in a cold greenhouse can be harvested as hearted crops in April. The same date sowing will give leaves for harvesting much earlier and can be harvested several times before following them with a warmth-loving crop such as toms, peppers, chilis, aubergines or even cues.
Kale – Under Cover
Kale sown now will give you leaves from baby plants in the spring. Grow them as a catch crop to be followed by something else when you’ve had your fill. They are a quick crop that fills a gap. They will also fill pigeons if you don’t net them!
Spring or Salad Onions – Under Cover
Let these onions live up to their name. Sow now in modules for early spring onions to add to salads etc.
Cabbage – Under Cover
Early cabbage can be sown in late January. Sow one seed to a module (two seeds and thin to one if you prefer) or in seedbeds and plant out once they have 2-3 true leaves. When planting them out aim to plant deep as this gives them a better root system and prevents the wind from rocking them about.
Radish – Under Cover
If your light levels are good you’ll probably get good roots quite quickly. But if not you’ll get plenty of leaf and that’s also edible in salads. Pick small leaves before they go coarse. If you take a few leaves at a time they keep growing and you can make multiple harvests over a long period.
Carrots
Sown outdoors in cold wet soil carrots are very unlikely to germinate. But sown in a container in a greenhouse, in good light, they will germinate very well. The result will be finger-sized carrots in about 16 weeks. Last year I sowed in mid-February and had some excellent crops. This year I’ll sow in mid-January. Due to day length they will not crop a month earlier but I should be able to crop a week or ten days earlier.
So that’s my advice on What To Sow in January. There are more monthly sowing advice pages on the site .. just use the search bar to find them.
I find the biggest problem sowing early indoors is that when the plants begin to grow they soon become leggy searching for light.
Yes, legginess, (etiliation) is an issue. The plants are searching for light.