Starting a garden from seed has always seemed like the ultimate way to connect with your food from the very beginning. I’ve spent countless spring evenings hunched over seed trays, carefully labeling each one with visions of the bounty to come.
But after years of hit-and-miss results, I’ve learned that not all vegetables are created equal when it comes to seed starting. Some take forever to germinate, others need such specific conditions that you might as well be performing a science experiment, and a few just never seem to produce enough to justify the effort.
The truth is, sometimes buying seedlings or starts is just plain smarter gardening. Here’s my hard-earned list of vegetables that, in my experience, rarely justify the time, space, and patience required when started from seed.
1. Artichokes
Growing artichokes from seed requires the patience of a saint. These Mediterranean natives need two full growing seasons to produce their first edible flower buds. Most gardeners won’t see a harvest until year two, making the wait hardly worthwhile.
Cold climates pose additional challenges, as artichokes need special overwintering care. Even with perfect conditions, germination rates can be frustratingly low.
For the space they demand and time invested, purchasing established artichoke plants from a nursery saves you an entire year of waiting and disappointment.
2. Asparagus
Starting this from seed feels like watching paint dry, except the paint takes three years to fully set. These perennial vegetables require extraordinary patience—you’ll wait at least three full seasons before harvesting your first proper spears.
Seedlings emerge spindly and fragile, needing careful attention to soil moisture and protection from weeds. Many gardeners give up before seeing results.
Purchasing one-year-old asparagus crowns instead gives you a significant head start, allowing harvests as soon as the following spring rather than waiting through several presidential elections for your first taste.
3. Brussels Sprouts
I’ve watched Brussels sprouts seedlings inch their way skyward with all the speed of a sleepy tortoise. These brassicas demand a long growing season—often 100+ days—and perfect timing to mature before frost or heat ruins them.
Temperature fluctuations during their lengthy growing period can trigger bolting or bitter-tasting sprouts. They’re also magnets for cabbage moths, requiring constant vigilance.
For most home gardeners, especially in regions with shorter seasons, purchasing sturdy transplants saves weeks of babysitting delicate seedlings and increases your chances of actually harvesting those miniature cabbages before winter arrives.
4. Celery
These seeds are notoriously finicky, resembling dust particles that need perfect conditions just to wake up. Their germination requires exact temperature control, consistent moisture, and more light than many indoor setups can provide.
Even when they do sprout, celery seedlings grow at a glacial pace, taking up valuable space in seed trays while other vegetables race ahead. The plants demand constant moisture and rich soil to avoid developing tough, stringy stalks.
After nursing these prima donnas for months, many gardeners end up with celery that’s more bitter and less substantial than store-bought varieties.
5. Cauliflower
This one seems determined to test a gardener’s resolve at every turn. From seed, these temperamental plants need precise temperature conditions to germinate properly, then quickly become leggy if light conditions aren’t perfect.
The real challenge comes during their growth phase. Too hot, and they refuse to form heads. Too cold too early, and growth stalls. Even a few days of temperature stress can ruin months of care.
I’ve found buying sturdy cauliflower transplants eliminates the frustrating early phase and gives these fussy vegetables their best shot at success in my garden.
6. Eggplant
Eggplant seeds germinate as if they’re contemplating the meaning of life first—slowly and with great reluctance. These heat-loving plants demand warm soil temperatures that many northern gardens simply can’t provide early enough in the season.
Even after germination, the seedlings grow at a leisurely pace, remaining vulnerable to damping off and other fungal issues. By the time homegrown seedlings reach transplanting size, the growing season is often significantly shortened.
A $3 nursery transplant typically provides a two-month head start, making the difference between abundant harvests and watching green fruits stubbornly refuse to mature before frost.
7. Leeks
Leeks from seed require a level of commitment that rivals some relationships. These alliums emerge looking like blades of grass and grow with the urgency of a sloth on vacation. Their painfully slow development means tying up seed-starting space for weeks before they’re ready for transplanting.
Once in the garden, they continue their unhurried pace, demanding regular soil hilling to develop the prized white stems. For the space and attention they require over their 120+ day growing period, the yield is relatively small.
I’ve found purchasing leek seedlings or sets eliminates months of waiting while still providing the satisfaction of growing these flavorful vegetables.
8. Onions
Growing onions from seed feels like watching grass grow, except the grass eventually becomes more impressive. These kitchen staples emerge as wispy threads that remain fragile for weeks, demanding perfect light conditions to prevent legginess.
Onions are photoperiod sensitive, meaning the variety must match your latitude to form proper bulbs. Many gardeners discover this crucial detail too late after months of care.
The kicker? After babysitting these delicate seedlings for 8-10 weeks indoors, you’ll still wait another 3-4 months for harvest. Purchasing onion sets or starts delivers mature bulbs in half the time with a fraction of the effort.
9. Peppers
Pepper seeds have their own timetable, and it rarely aligns with a gardener’s patience. Germination can take 2-3 weeks even in ideal conditions, and the seedlings grow with deliberate slowness that’s maddening when you’re eager to get gardening.
Hot peppers are particularly stubborn, sometimes taking a month just to emerge. Even after the plants are established, they need a long, warm season to produce well. In many northern gardens, the math simply doesn’t work out.
By the time homegrown seedlings start producing, the season is nearly over. Nursery-grown pepper plants offer weeks of additional harvest time.
10. Parsnips
Parsnip seeds seem to have commitment issues. Their germination is notoriously unreliable and slow—sometimes taking three weeks or more to emerge. Even worse, the seeds lose viability quickly, meaning last year’s packet probably won’t perform well.
Once they do sprout, parsnips grow with painful slowness above ground while developing their signature roots below. Many gardeners get impatient and harvest too early, missing out on the frost-sweetened flavor that makes parsnips special.
The entire process from seed to harvest spans 4-5 months, making it one of the longest-term garden investments with relatively little payoff compared to easier root crops.
11. Rhubarb
Starting rhubarb from seed is an exercise in delayed gratification that few gardeners have the patience to complete. These perennial vegetables require 2-3 years before you can harvest without damaging the plant’s long-term health.
Seed-grown rhubarb also produces inconsistent results, as the plants don’t grow true to the parent variety. After waiting several years, you might end up with stems that are more green than red or lacking the flavor profile you expected.
Purchasing rhubarb crowns or divisions from established plants guarantees better quality and allows for modest harvesting in the very first year.
12. Sweet Potatoes
Growing sweet potatoes from seed isn’t actually a thing for most gardeners—they’re typically grown from slips (rooted sprouts). Attempting to grow from the occasional seeds produced by flowering sweet potato plants is an exercise in frustration.
The resulting plants won’t match the parent variety, and the process takes significantly longer than starting from slips. Even creating your own slips from store-bought sweet potatoes requires perfect timing and conditions.
For most gardeners, purchasing ready-to-plant slips from a reputable supplier eliminates weeks of uncertainty and provides reliable harvests.
13. Celeric
Celeriac from seed will test the limits of your gardening patience. These ugly-but-delicious root vegetables germinate sluggishly and grow with painful slowness for the first several months of their lives.
The seeds need light to germinate but must remain consistently moist—a challenging combination to maintain. Even with perfect care, you’re looking at a 110-130 day growing season after transplanting. For gardeners in shorter-season climates, this timing rarely works out.
Purchasing celeriac transplants eliminates the frustrating early phase and gives these slow-growing vegetables enough time to develop their prized root balls.
14. Globe Artichokes
Globe artichokes from seed require a gardener’s equivalent of a five-year plan. These Mediterranean perennials need a full year of growth before producing their edible flower buds, making them a test of gardening commitment.
The seedlings emerge reluctantly and grow slowly, demanding perfect drainage and protection from both extreme heat and cold. In most climates, they’ll need special winter protection to survive until their productive second year.
For the space they consume and care required, purchasing established artichoke plants gives you harvests a full year earlier and eliminates the frustrating juvenile phase.
15. Head Lettuce
Growing head lettuce from seed presents a particular challenge that loose-leaf varieties don’t share. While germination is relatively quick, developing a tight, market-quality head requires perfect timing and conditions that most home gardens struggle to provide.
Head lettuce varieties are temperature sensitive, bolting quickly in warm weather before forming proper heads. They’re also more vulnerable to pest damage during their longer growing period.
For the space they occupy and attention needed to produce quality heads, many gardeners find direct-seeding loose-leaf varieties offers better value and reliability while purchased head lettuce transplants provide better results than seed-started ones.
16. Fennel
Fennel’s feathery foliage might look delicate in the garden, but these Mediterranean natives have surprisingly specific demands when started from seed. The seedlings resent transplanting, often bolting or failing to develop proper bulbs when their roots are disturbed.
Direct seeding presents its own challenges, as fennel needs warm soil but cool air temperatures—a combination that exists briefly in spring and fall. Even with perfect timing, fennel bulbs develop slowly and remain vulnerable to bolting if temperatures fluctuate.
For consistent bulb production, many experienced gardeners bypass the seed stage entirely, purchasing transplants grown in biodegradable pots that minimize root disturbance.
17. Okra
These seeds contain a hard outer coating that often leads to spotty, uneven germination unless pre-soaked or scarified. Even with these extra steps, they demand soil temperatures above 65°F to wake up properly—a threshold many gardens don’t reach until the season is well underway.
The plants themselves are heat lovers that sulk and stall in cool conditions. In northern gardens, this temperature requirement can reduce the productive season by a month or more.
Starting with nursery-grown transplants (or waiting until soil is genuinely warm for direct seeding) provides more consistent results and extends the harvest window for these productive summer vegetables.