It Is Not Too Early to Sow Vegetables – Discover What You Can Plant in January, Wherever You Live

What you can sow or plant in January depends on your climate and US hardiness zone. However, wherever you live, there are vegetables you can plant this month. It will be a case of the types and growing methods differing from region to region.

Gardeners in warmer climates may enjoy the luxury of direct sowing the first of their yearly vegetables directly into the soil this month. While, at the other end of the scale, those in cold climates may look at frozen ground and be tinged with jealousy. They can start crops indoors, but may still need a heated propagator and grow lights to have healthy vegetables.

I have grown a wide array of vegetables year-round. I have never been fortunate enough to plant vegetables outdoors in January, but I have had the luxury of greenhouses and heated propagation benches to help extend the growing season. Here I want to highlight seven vegetables to plant in January, which will include crops suitable for gardeners in any climate, along with some planting tips.

Vegetables to Plant in January – How to Help Sowing Indoors

If you have a vegetable garden in cold or milder climates, from US hardiness zones 3-8, you will likely be restricted to sowing seeds indoors. I was a professional kitchen gardener in zone 8, and started all my crops off undercover in January. It wasn’t until early spring that I started sowing seeds outdoors.

A heat mat or heated propagator will help you start vegetable seeds indoors in January. It can provide valuable heat to germinate seeds, and they come in various sizes. Even if you only have a bright windowsill for sowing this month, you can get windowsill heat mats like these on Amazon.

1. Leeks

While not the conventional time to start growing leeks, if you want larger leeks and earlier harvests, then you can do an early sowing of seeds indoors in January. This is best recommended for those in colder climates, and you can expect to harvest leeks come late summer or early fall from a winter sowing.

To start leeks this month, sow them thinly in pots or modules filled with seed compost, such as Burpee's seed starting soil. I have had success sowing them into two or five-liter pots and then separating and transplanting them outside come spring. Leek seeds need temperatures of at least 45°F to germinate, which you can provide in a greenhouse or on a windowsill.

When the leeks are 6-8 inches tall and pencil-thick, transplant the seedlings into their final growing position after the last frost.

See the range of leek seeds at Amazon
See the range of leek seeds at Walmart
See the range of leek seeds at Burpee
See the range of leek seeds at True Leaf Market

2. Peas

You can either start growing garden peas in late January, or grow pea shoots as microgreens on a bright windowsill. To grow garden peas, you can start seeds indoors or try to warm up the soil early and plant the peas under a cold frame or frost cloth – it will depend on how cold your soil is in January.

Peas need a soil temperature of 55-60°F for germination, which you can check with a soil thermometer, like this one at Amazon. If it is too cold outside, sow peas into deep modules (like these deep nursery pots on Amazon) or root trainers filled with seed compost. Plant them an inch deep and place them on a heat mat, or on a warm, bright windowsill for good germination.

Whether you plant peas indoors or outdoors in late January, a good tip is to sow rounded pea seeds, rather than wrinkled seeds, earlier in the year, as the rounded ones won’t hold onto water, so are at less risk of rotting at colder temperatures.

For pea shoots, sow the seeds thickly over a tray filled with compost and cover with more soil. Put them on a warm windowsill, ideally south-facing, and you can harvest the microgreens within a couple of weeks.

See the range of pea seeds at Amazon
See the range of pea seeds at Walmart
See the range of pea seeds at Burpee
See the range of pea seeds at True Leaf Market

3. Carrots

January is early for planting carrots, but it is possible. In warmer climates, the soil can be warm enough to sow seeds directly into the vegetable garden. However, there is also the possibility of growing some carrot varieties indoors in cooler zones.

As carrots don’t transplant, you want to plan where you are growing carrots and the types accordingly. For example, to cultivate them indoors, you may need to grow carrots in containers and pick fast-growing varieties or shorter-rooted types.

The ideal soil temperature for carrots is 50-70°F. If your soil is warm enough for outdoor sowings, prepare the ground and rake it level. Thinly sow the seeds into drills only a quarter-inch deep and then gently water the row to avoid disturbing the freshly-sown seeds.

Covering the rows with a cold frame or horticultural fleece (such as this floating row cover at Amazon) can provide an extra bit of warmth to help with germination.

See the range of carrot seeds at Amazon
See the range of carrot seeds at Walmart
See the range of carrot seeds at Burpee
See the range of carrot seeds at True Leaf Market

4. Beets

Beets are a cool-season crop that prefers milder soil temperatures, thriving between 50°F and 75°F.

For growers in warmer climates, they are ideal for the winter months, as growing beets can be tough in hot summer temperatures. While you can plant beets in a greenhouse or polytunnel during winter in colder climates for an earlier harvest, you would struggle to grow beets outdoors in cold conditions.

Beets are commonly sown directly into the ground, though you can grow them in module trays and transplant seedlings once they are large enough to handle. But if the soil temperature is warm enough, you are better off direct sowing.

Do so carefully, though, as beet seeds are multigerm clusters containing several seeds. Sowing too thickly is a beet growing mistake that leaves you stuck with the arduous task of a lot of thinning if they all germinate. Instead, try to place each seed around four inches apart, and an inch deep in the soil.

See the range of beet seeds at Amazon
See the range of beet seeds at Walmart
See the range of beet seeds at Burpee
See the range of beet seeds at True Leaf Market

5. Lettuce

Yes, you can start growing lettuce in January. It may seem an early start for planting lettuce to many gardeners, but where and how you can sow will depend on your climate.

Growers in warmer climates can sow outdoors, albeit with some protection on cold nights, while those in milder climates can start lettuce seeds outside courtesy of some protection from tunnels, cloches, cold frames, or frost cloth.

As long as the soil temperature is above 40°F, you can sow directly. Winter lettuces can tolerate temperatures of 32°F, but growth slows once the temperature dips below 40°F. A row cover or a low hoop tunnel (like this hoop tunnel kit at Walmart) can keep temperatures at an adequate level for lettuce to grow.

In the coldest zones, you can start seeds in a greenhouse, but you will need the assistance of grow lights and additional heat sources when growing indoors.

The best varieties to start in January are the more cold-tolerant lettuces, such as ‘Winter Density’ or ‘Arctic King’. Alternatively, you can opt for some alternative hardy leaves, including corn salad, winter purslane, or mizuna, which all make fantastic cut-and-come-again leaves to grow over the cooler months.

Get Winter Density lettuce seeds at True Leaf Market

Get organic corn salad seeds at Burpee

6. Spinach

Spinach germinates reliably well at cooler temperatures and is a super-hardy crop, hence its inclusion here as one of the top vegetables to plant in January. Spinach seeds can germinate at temperatures down to 32°F, and plants can tolerate temperatures as low as 0°F.

This makes growing spinach suitable for most climates during winter, as a cold frame or row cover can protect plants even in the coldest gardens. For the best success, however, opt for the hardiest varieties in January, such as ‘Winter Giant’, ‘Bloomsdale’ and ‘Perpetual’.

To sow spinach outdoors in zones 7-10, sow the seeds directly into one-inch drills and thin seedlings to at least three inches apart as they appear. For growers in zones 7 and 8, it is advisable to cover plants with frost cloth, low tunnels, or a cold frame for guaranteed success.

In colder zones, it is best to start seeds indoors in large modules to limit root disturbance when transplanting out seedlings. Too much disturbance can be responsible for spinach bolting, so using a product like this XL seed starting tray from Burpee can help reduce stress when transplanting.

Get Bloomsdale spinach seeds at Burpee

Get Winter Giant spinach seeds at True Leaf Market

7. Garlic

It is not too late to plant garlic. If you missed the fall window to start growing garlic, you can still get bulbs into the ground in January and enjoy a decent crop for all your culinary needs.

As garlic needs a period of cold weather to form good bulbs, this can be achieved by planting in January, as long as the ground isn’t frozen. You may get smaller bulbs from spring planting, but you can get a good harvest of garlic in mid-to-late summer from planting at the start of the year.

The best types of garlic for new year planting are softneck varieties, compared to hardneck garlic, which typically need a full winter in the soil to reliably produce good yields. If the soil is workable, simply separate the cloves into bulbs and plant them pointy end up an inch deep in the soil.

However, if you have heavy or waterlogged soil, it is best to plant the garlic in pots. Leave these containers in an open cold frame or protected spot in the yard, and transfer the plants into the ground once the soil becomes workable in late winter or early spring.

See the range of garlic bulbs to plant at Amazon
See the range of garlic bulbs to plant at Walmart
See the range of garlic bulbs to plant at Burpee
See the range of garlic bulbs to plant at True Leaf Market

January starts off a new gardening year, and it can be a busy time. There is a wide variety of January gardening jobs to choose from to keep you occupied and give you a bit of a gardening fix this month.

It ranges from physical outdoor tasks like pruning deciduous trees and shrubs, and planting bare-root trees, shrubs, and perennials, to indoor tasks for bitter days, when you can clean tools and equipment and get ahead with planning for the upcoming season.

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