Sowing in February: 5 Fruits and Vegetables to Start Now…

Before diving into gardening activities, February marks the time for sowing some fruits and vegetables. Here are 5 plants you can start sowing now.

With the end of winter in sight, it’s time to kickstart your garden planning. While it’s still too cold to plant directly in the garden or on the balcony, you can begin sowing some varieties of fruits and vegetables in February. We’ll explain which ones and how to do it best.

Sowing in February: 5 Fruits and Vegetables

Vegetables like tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers take some time to mature, so starting seeds in February can lead to harvesting the first ripe fruits as early as mid-June with mild weather. Here are the plants you should start sowing in February:

  1. Bell Peppers

Start sowing bell peppers before anything else if you want to have the first harvest by late summer, as they take a long time to grow. They require warmth and should be grown on a windowsill in a greenhouse or outdoors in a heated greenhouse. Their ideal germination temperature is 25°C. By mid-May, after the last frost, the seedlings can be moved outdoors.

  1. Tomato

Tomatoes should also be sown before most other vegetables because, like bell peppers, they take a while to ripen. Starting now allows you to harvest as much as possible before the weather turns cool and humid in autumn, increasing the risk of blight. Tomatoes need a germination temperature of 20°C and plenty of light, which they’ll get from the lengthening days. The best place to start them is in a small greenhouse on the windowsill.

  1. Melon

It’s also time to start thinking about melons. Similar to bell peppers, their germination temperature is 25°C, so they belong indoors or in a heated greenhouse for germination. Sow the seeds individually in special peat pellets or seedling pots and place them in a bright, warm spot. Keep the soil consistently moist. Depending on the variety, it may take up to four weeks for the first seedlings to appear. By May, you can transplant the seedlings outdoors into a greenhouse, ensuring the temperature doesn’t drop below 10°C.

  1. Zucchini and Cucumber

Zucchini and cucumbers are among the most popular vegetables because they are easy to grow. Like bell peppers, you should only plant one seed per seedling pot. They prefer a temperature of 20°C, and under the right conditions, you may see seedlings in just one week. By mid-May, they can also move from indoors or heated greenhouses to the outdoors. If late frosts are still a concern, it’s advisable to plant the seedlings in large pots that can be easily brought indoors if it gets too cold.

  1. Carrots

Unlike the previously mentioned vegetables, carrots can go directly outdoors. Before sowing in February, soak the seeds for 24 hours. Then sow them at the correct spacing in rows. You can conveniently do this in your garden, but carrots also do well on balconies, easily sown in a balcony planter or large pot. If there’s a sudden cold spell after sowing, cover the bed or balcony planter with fleece or similar material to protect the seeds from the cold. After 4 weeks, the first small plants should appear.