Buying Garden Seeds Online – 8 Tips For Purchasing Seeds Online

As soon as the last page in your yearly calendar gets flipped, it’s time to start thinking about buying garden seeds, and thankfully, that’s super easy to do online nowadays!

Even if you save as many seeds as possible from your own garden, chances are you are going to need to supplement with a few new packets. (Or, maybe you are like most gardeners – myself included – and have a slight addiction to purchasing all the varieties of seeds you can!)

Either way, the first of the year is a great time to start taking inventory of the seeds you have saved or leftover from previous years. Once you see what you have available for planting, it’s time to make a list of what you need or want to purchase for the new gardening season and start stocking up.

Sure, you can go to the store and purchase packets of seeds that seem to pop out of nowhere on huge displays in most garden centers, home improvement stores, and even big box stores. However, the downside of that is that you are limited to only the varieties available.

Instead, consider purchasing seeds from reputable online retailers using these eight tips. Online shopping will open you up to seeds in a whole array of colors, flavors, shapes, and more, just waiting to be sown in your garden!

Tip 1 For Buying Garden Seeds Online: Make A Seed Inventory List

The first of the year is the perfect time to make a seed inventory list. (I actually have one you can save and print if you need somewhere to start. Visit “Using A Seed Inventory List – Includes A Free Downloadable PDF”.)

Go through all of your saved seeds or extra seeds that you have from last year’s gardening season. While it would be nice if you did that at the end of the gardening season, chances are (if you are like me anyway), your seeds were stuffed in a box or container for “Winter You” to take care of.

Use a piece of paper or even a spreadsheet to write down all of the seed varieties you have. Also, add the quantities, the year they were packaged, etc. Making a list helps you know what seeds you have available for this year’s garden.

Now you need to go through and decide whether you want to keep or toss those seeds. There’s no sense in saving a variety that you absolutely hated growing or that was a bust. Keep in mind that most seeds can be kept for multiple years before they go bad, so don’t toss them just because they are from last year.

If you don’t want to throw away the seed, you can always see if there are local seed exchanges you can use to swap seeds. Also, don’t toss them into your compost. Home compost piles just can’t get hot enough to kill off the seeds. If you go to use the finished compost in your garden, you may wind up “planting” those seeds wherever you use the compost!

Tip 2: Grow What You’ll Use Or Enjoy

Now that you know what seeds you already have on hand, make another list of the seeds you need to make your garden complete. Go ahead and add seeds to your “Wish List” that you are thinking about growing, but just aren’t sure yet. There’s no harm in at least writing them down for the time being.

The key to not getting overwhelmed with this part is to think rationally. If your family isn’t a big fan of hot peppers, then you don’t need to purchase jalapeno pepper seeds. Not only will this be a waste of money, but it is a waste of your garden space.

Only purchase seeds of plants you know you will eat or enjoy growing. It’s ok to try new crops or flowers, just don’t go too overboard, or you will end up stressed out come spring with way too many seeds and no space to grow them. (Speaking from personal experience here.)

Tip 3: Research – Buying Garden Seeds Online

No one really enjoys researching and doing a bit of reading. However, sometimes research is important, especially when it comes to growing new varieties of crops.

The reason why this is one of my tips is that not all crops should be planted as seeds in your garden. Some crops, like tomatoes, take a long time to grow. Because of this, they need to be either started in early March indoors or purchased as seedlings from garden centers and nurseries. If it’s late April and you are just now getting around to buying seeds online, there’s no use getting tomato seeds for your garden. Instead, you’ll need to purchase actual seedlings.

Then there are crops that require cold stratification (a period of cold weather) in order to germinate. For example, lavender seeds are slow to germinate and need to be cold-stratified about 10 to 12 weeks before you want to transplant them outside. So planning ahead is imperative. You wouldn’t want to just buy the seeds in March and try to sow them outside. It’ll be a waste of time, money, and seeds.

Tip 4: Find Your Online Retailer – Buying Garden Seeds Online

The next step involves finding reputable and trusted online seed retailers. There are tons of them out there, and some amazing small family-owned companies. However, I typically stick to the more well-known companies. Here are a few of my favorites that I’ve had good luck with in the past. (None of these are sponsored.)

Johnny’s Selected Seeds – This is a great go-to for all different types of seeds. Whether you are looking for heirlooms, hybrids, flowers, vegetables, or everything in between, Johnny Seeds is a great source.

Baker Creek Seeds – Do you want only heirloom or open-pollinated seeds? Then Baker Creek Seeds is by far my favorite place to purchase seeds. Their seeds are reasonably priced, and they offer free shipping with no minimum, a huge bonus in my opinion.

Park Seeds – This is another great source for all different types and varieties of seeds, including hybrids. I usually order from Park Seeds if I can’t find the variety I am after at Johnny’s or Baker Creek Seeds.

Burpee – The same seeds that you purchase at the store can also be purchased online, only with way more variety. It’s a trusted name that usually has great quality seeds. I do find the prices to be a bit higher with their online seed packets, though.

MIGardener – This company was built from the ground up by a husband and wife duo. They have a great assortment of seeds at very reasonable prices, making gardening accessible to almost everyone, even those on a budget. They also have free shipping once you reach a low price point.

Tip 5: Filter Search Results

Once you have found the online retailer you want to buy from, you need to filter your results. Online retailers sell to people all over the United States and beyond. That means people from Florida, Michigan, Maine, and California can all purchase the same seeds. So what’s the issue with that?

Well, what I can grow here in Zone 5 will vary greatly from what someone in Zone 10 can grow. So you need to be sure to filter out your results based on the Growing Zone you live in.

If you can’t filter out those results, at least do research to make sure the particular variety or crop you want to grow can thrive in your location and climate. (Yes, more research!)

Tip 6: Read Reviews With An Open Mind

I am a review reader. I like to read how other people get along with a particular company’s product. However, this can be both helpful as well as a pain in the butt. This is especially the case with seeds.

How successful seeds are will be based on so many factors. How well they germinate, how healthy the seeding and adult plant is, how well it produces (if applicable), and if it gets any diseases. ALL of those factors are somewhat based on the person planting and growing them.

Just because a particular seed doesn’t do well in my garden doesn’t mean it won’t thrive in yours. For example, I had Amish Paste tomatoes last year. They germinated amazingly well and grew into the strongest, healthiest seedlings. However, they died soon after transplanting into my garden. I had horrible results with those seeds, even though I know MANY people who have amazing success growing Amish Paste tomatoes.

If I were to write a review on those seeds, it would reflect my particular experience, which might not ever be replicable in the following years. So while reviews can help guide you and give you some insight, do read them with an open mind.

Tip 7: Plan Ahead – Buying Garden Seeds Online

If you want to start your indoor seeds by the middle of March, don’t wait until the first week of March to order your seeds! Just like it can be stressful to shop for Christmas gifts last minute, you don’t want to purchase your seeds last minute either.

These seed companies often get bombarded with orders during late winter and early spring. This can cause they to be a bit behind in processing and shipping out orders.

Allow yourself plenty of time to order and get the seeds a few weeks before you want to use them. This will also prevent you from stressing out or scrambling if the particular variety you are after is sold out. Because yes, seeds often do sell out, especially if they are rare or a particularly popular variety.

Tip 8: Have Fun!

Enjoy researching and buying your garden seeds online! It can be a lot of fun to experiment with different varieties and try new things.

Want to try growing purple peppers? Go for it! What about chocolate tomatoes? Sure! The possibilities are almost endless when you order your seeds online.

Keep an open mind, be a responsible buyer, and enjoy dreaming about this next gardening season! Once those seeds hit your mailbox, check out my article, “How To Read And Understand Seed Packet Information”, so you can know exactly how and when to plant those brand new seeds!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!
– Chelsea

*This post may contain affiliate links. These are products I have used personally and highly recommend. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases if you purchase items through my links. These links and the ads on this page help to support my family and our semi homestead, so Thank You!