Why Sow Little and Often
Gluts and shortages are common to most vegetable gardeners. The fix is simple: sow seed in small batches, spread across the growing season, so plants are always ready to harvest.1
This approach — called successional sowing — is best suited to quick-maturing crops. Carrots, French beans, peas, salads, and spinach are ideal candidates because they are highly perishable and benefit from a continuous fresh supply.1
Which Crops Need It Most
Bolt-prone plants are especially good candidates. Coriander, rocket, and spinach tend to flower prematurely when stressed, making the leaves bitter or the roots unusable.1
Bolting happens when a vegetable plant starts flowering and forming seeds, often before the crop is ready. Adverse weather or changes in day length can trigger it across a wide range of vegetables, including lettuces, onions, carrots, and other root crops.1
For bolt-prone plants, successional sowing means you are not dependent on a single batch that may turn unusable before harvest.1
Timing Your Sowings
Spring and summer are the core windows for successional sowing.1 Within those seasons, sowing seed little and often in small batches keeps a continuous supply coming through.
The goal is a continuous, fresh supply of highly perishable crops rather than a single large harvest.1
Practical Sowing Tips
- Start small. A short row or a half-tray per batch keeps workload manageable and waste low.1
- Track your sowings. Note the date and variety so you know when the next batch is due.1
- Prioritise perishables. Salads and spinach deteriorate fast once picked, so these crops gain the most from a steady succession.1
- Watch for bolting signs. If a plant sends up a flower stalk early, pull it and sow a replacement rather than waiting.1
What to Watch This Season
Successional sowing is rated as an easy technique by the RHS, making it accessible even for first-year growers.1 The main discipline is consistency — a forgotten sowing gap shows up as a hungry week six weeks later.
Keep an eye on temperature swings in late spring and early summer. Sudden heat pushes bolt-prone crops over the edge fast, so those are the moments when an extra resowing pays off most.1
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