It’s unbelievable that the last two years here in Texas that the weather has been record breaking highs. We have had a few cool days sure, but nothing a little frost cover couldn’t manage. Even with the unseasonably warm temperatures, you cannot let it ride. Even if my tomatoes are still producing (even after Christmas!), Seed Starting in January 2026 will make sure you have a full and productive garden all year.

Before you start planting seeds right now, it’s important to know your first and last expected frost date. This will tell you approximately when you can expect to get your last frost which will be the point you start counting backwards from. I recommended using a calculator such as this from The Old Farmer’s Almanac to give you this information.

These first and last frost dates have nothing to do with your hardiness zones. Hardiness zones are great for perennial plans such as your trees, shrubs, berry plants, and a handful of vegetables, but most of the crops listed here will be grown as annuals and do not need hardiness zones. All hardiness zones tell you is approximately how cold does it get in your area. It has nothing to do with when it typically get’s cold.

To get started with your 2026 Garden Season, it’s important that you plan your garden for not only what you want to grow, but also where are you growing it so you know how much light you get, how are you growing it (raised beds, in ground, containers),

No matter whether you are a brand new gardener or a seasoned veteran, I’m planning on this guide having something for everyone. That way there is no panic if you are worried if it’s too late, you don’t plant the wrong things too early, and you get some new tips on different varieties. This guide is great for those of you whose first frost is somewhere between March and Mid April. I’ll include varieties I’m excited to use this year along with a few notes to accommodate those of you further north where light levels are different in the summer time.

My Favorite Seeds to Plant in January

Onions: Layered Up and Loving It

Onions are some of my favorite things to plant in January. I use them all the time in my kitchen, they’re quick to germinate, and because they can be planted outside anywhere from 4-8 weeks BEFORE your first frost. This is great for getting outside early in the year especially before it gets too hot outside. As soon as the ground can be worked, you can start planting!

Bulbing Onions

Understandably so, when I said onions, these are probably the kind you were thinking of. Onions are great in the kitchen and pretty easy to grow, especially from seed. They usually germinate in about a week or so in moist and warm conditions and with some heavy nitrogen based fertilizer, such as this Bat Guano from Down to Earth Farms, will provide extra nutrients to grow big leaves which will then give us big bulbs!

In addition to providing nutrients to get a big bulb, onions are unique in that they have different varieties that need more or less light to form a bulb. Each variety of onion will have a measure for whether it needs relatively “Short Days”, “Intermediate Days”, or “Long Days” in summer to form a bulb. For the states north of Kansas or south of 35 degrees latitude short day onions will work best. If your location is between 32-42 degrees you can get intermediate day, and north of 37 degrees you will need a long day onion.

Short Day

If you are short day you can try seeds like Granex or Texas Grano or Gabriella for a traditional sweet yellow onion. White Castle for white onions, or Red Creole for Red onions will be best for your latitudes.

Intermediate Day

Gladstone, Flat of Italy, or Candy for yellow onions, Sierra Blanca for white onion, and Red Amposta or Monasrell for red onions will be best for latitude.

Long Day

Walla walla, Yellow and White Spanish Onions along with Rosa di Milano and Blush make for good onions to sow in northern most latitudes.

Why Not From a Set?

An onion set is an immature onion bulb that has a papery skin. You can buy these from the local nursery, however I prefer to grow them from seed. This comes from planting onion sets for years as a kid where we saw no bulbing actually happen in the onion. Instead we would get pretty leaves and flowers. This is because onions are biennials and will produce a bulb in the first year of their life and flowers the second.

This happens a lot with bulbs due to the process of gathering the onions to ship. When nurseries try to preserve the onion for shipping, they can be placed in cool temperatures to ensure they don’t rot, but in that process the onion plant thinks that a season has passed and it’s time to put out flowers.

By starting from seeds instead of sets, you are ensuring that when you plant the onions in the ground, they don’t get confused and they won’t have any needless energy spent on producing flowers. Instead all of that energy is put into producing a beautiful tasty bulb.

Leeks, Scallions and Bunching Onions

Unlike bulbing onions, leeks, green onions, and bunching onions don’t for a bulb. Because of this there is not all of the complications when looking for seeds. They do incredibly well in the cold and can typically be harvested around spring time.

King Richard is my preference for leeks producing beautiful flavorful stalks. Tokyo Long is preferred for green scallions (typically what they provide in CSAs and at the grocery store). Bunching onions will propagate underground and can also be used for a green onions in the kitchen.

Cool as a Cabbage (and Other Brassicas)

I have mixed feelings about brassicas in general. I love growing cabbages, but broccoli and cauliflower are not my favorite for growing in a suburban yard. I don’t love what they produce, they take up so much space, and produce primarily one harvest and I can’t even pressure can that harvest without destroying the integrity. Cabbages on the other hand, can be used to make sauerkraut (a household favorite!), kimchi, or cooked in stir fry’s.

Cabbages

I’ve tried growing a handful of different varieties of cabbages and this spring I’m trying my hand at 4 different kinds. I prioritize those that do well with limited space, taste, price, and variety.

Green Cabbage

Golden Acre cabbages will make small heads about 3-4 pounds and can be ready in about 60 days. Early Copenhagen Market is sweet and compact and can be ready in about 65-80 days. Both do very well in small spaces and form compact heads that are great for tight spaces. They are both heirloom varieties so they are typically more affordable.

Red Acre Cabbage

Out of all of the cabbages, I am least excited about this particular variety. I do want to have a different color in my coleslaw. I tried growing it this fall in hopes cabbage worms would be deterred from them, since they would stick out more with the purple foliage, and alas no such luck. They are getting one more shot out in the garden, but they are on the chopping block if they don’t produce.

Chinese/Asian Cabbages

While I love regular cabbage for coleslaw and sauerkraut, it is not my favorite for stir fry’s. If you are that’s great, but I do like to grow Napa cabbage for stir fry’s, curries, and kimchi. I’ve tried a few different varieties, but have had great luck with Burpee’s Barrel Head Hybrid.

An honorable mention is bok choy (pack choi) which while I do love to eat. I guess thankfully I have only had to plant it once. Because Texas and Oklahoma is so hot, if it get warm or too much light, it will bolt and go to seed pretty quickly. The bees and pollinators absolutely love it so I tend to let it go to seed, and then get many volunteers which have done a little bit better in my hot humid environment.

Broccoli & Cauliflower

I won’t speak about this too much as I am far from an expert, but I will chime in on the varieties I have known others to enjoy. Waltham 29 is an heirloom that has grown beautiful foliage and can produce a large head. However, if you aren’t a huge broccoli person and want more smaller heads and side shoots like I would, I have heard wonderful things about Di Cicco from Epic Gardening & Botanical Interests.

Snowball Y is pretty surprising in how well it does want to head. I grew it poorly in doors for too long in a hydroponic. Put in the ground middle of October and in the shade at that, and it still produced a floret or two. If I had the space, I’d absolutely be growing that again.

Lettuces & Greens

Leaf lettuces are well known to do well no matter the time of the year, but especially in cold weather. But mid to end of January is great time to also start heading lettuces and other leafy greens. A mix like this is great especially for your shoulder seasons. Buttercrunch and romaine do well for heading lettuces and can handle cold temperatures (especially if you can keep the frost off) and leafy lettuces like oak leaf, marvel of four seasons, and arugula do incredibly well even below 25 degrees.

Swiss chard has been remarkable in my area and with it getting eastern sun, I have barely needed to plant it more than the once or twice. It is certainly behaving like a perrenial and is fantastic in salads with baby leaves, in soups, or sautéed like spinach.

Nightshades

Nightshades can be a great thing to start early, but you need to be a little more particular as they do like hot weather. After the summer of 2024 and our harvest of 55lbs of eggplant, I do want to do a repeat of that. Or at least something close to being manageable.

You will want to start your nightshades that need extra time to grow, looking at you Black Beauty Eggplant. Early girl tomatoes and Rosella purple are tomatoes that can do slightly better in cooler weather. They still cannot handle frosts and really not weather much below 50, but getting them started in mid to late January means you might be able to put them in the ground in March or early April.

Herbs

A lot of herbs do very well in cold weather, but some might need a little help getting started. Chives, parsley, cilantro, lavender, oregano and thyme all do well with the extra time it takes to start from seed and especially with a heat mat, they can germinate and then be put in the garden. Most can handle mid twenties and a light frost pretty easily. Herbs like cilantro, will actually bolt if it gets to be too warm!

How to Start for a Home Grower

If you are like me and are super excited to get growing and you have your seeds in hand, a great start is to start them inside if you have the space. For most of my plants like cabbages, onions and lettuces, I use my Burpee Super Seed Starting Tray x16 and will use 2-3 seeds per cell. That way if one of the seeds doesn’t come up I still have enough. Cabbages I will pick the strongest ones or give the extras to friends and family (more likely situation.

Lettuces and onions take up so little space, if I have extra it’s not usually an issue. These are my go to trays for things in tight spaces or for cells I need to grow a lot of one thing (lettuce and onions especially). It will let you water the bottom tray to prevent the seedlings from getting damping off disease and they are super easy to take out and transplant.

For my nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants), I’ll start them in Epic 4 Cell Containers. They offer a little more depth and are equally easy to get out of the container, though it does mean I cannot plant quite as many at one time. I do recommend buying more of the Epic containers than you think because come February and March you can transplant your cabbages into these along with starting your main crop tomatoes, peppers, and also cucumbers and squash. You will want a tray to go with these to water from below, but they are also super easy to transplant.

Trays I’m Skipping

I tried some of these Burpee 72 Cell Trays that are self watering in hopes that I could use less space and it already had the soil available for easy planting. That was the easiest thing about it. I didn’t care for watering it because I made a bigger mess than I usually do, but transplanting the seedlings nearly killed about 1/3 of them. They didn’t have a large root ball and it was super overwhelming to deal with some many. Plus the tray isn’t usable year over year.

It’s Not the Date, It’s the Light

While temperature plays a huge part in when to plant, it’s also the amount of available light. If you are going to be starting seeds in January, you will likely need some sort of light to supplement what they would normally be getting from the sun.

After you figure out where the seeds will be growing, I do highly recommend a grow light. I have tried several, and if you have the space, something like the Monios Shelves and Lights are a one and done solution. If you decide on these, I do recommend getting it in daylight since it will be fuller spectrum. If you have slightly less room or already have the shelves, consider getting these LED Grow Lights. They are super heavy duty, on a dimmer switch and can give a lot of light to your heat and light loving plants like tomatoes and peppers later down the road.

If you don’t have much room at all, these Flexible Clip Lamps are great and can span a wide area. Other cheaper versions don’t have the same intensity in my experience. If you’re no able to get any of these, a sunny windowsill can also do the job. Just make sure you turn them often and get them outside anytime the weather is nice to keep them from getting leggy.

If you don’t have a garden to plant into yet, this is a great time to start planning it. If you are brand new to gardening you will want to plan out how will you be growing to include in ground, raised beds, or containers. Also where will you put them, does it get enough sun, at least 8 hours for your summer plants and at least 6 for your lettuces? Check out these posts to help get you started: Your Garden Plan for Success: 5 Essential Tasks for January and Plan Your Garden in January: The Best Time for Beginners

What NOT to Plant

As much as I would love to get all of my planting done at the start of the new year, there are something’s I just have to wait on. The types of plants you will want to wait on are usually your large plants that might take up too much room in your home if you’re still expecting a frost or just grow to quickly (which would mean they would be way to large in your house and possibly get hit by frost).

Wait Until (at least!) February

Night Shades

While I do absolutely love to plant my night shades early, there are something’s that I’m going to wait on. My indeterminate tomatoes such as Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, San Marzano, Mortgage Lifter and Cherry Tomatoes are all sitting on the bench until February. Why, they get too tall for my lights. They were also getting too big for their pots, but I bought larger ones to try and combat that part.

Peppers, hot peppers especially, can also do with a bit of a wait. More because of the amount of space they take. They will grow pretty well with tomatoes initially, but will outgrow their pot, and hot peppers are much more sensitive to the cool weather if you take them outside too soon.

Herbs

Herbs like basil, oregano and dill should really be started in February because they can grow in a hurry especially when it gets warm. Basil can take it’s time to be a good size but you’ll want to stick it in the ground as soon as possible once it gets going, and like peppers, they are drama queens when it comes to cool temperatures.

They Grow Up so Fast: Large & Quick Growing Plants

Honestly, unless you don’t really get a winter, most of us probably shouldn’t be starting our curcubits (melons, squash, cucumbers) until at the earliest march. They produce huge leaves, not all like to be transplanted, and grow so quickly and so large, you don’t want to be wrestling with a full grown zucchini when it’s time to transplant. Wait until at least March.

Root of the Problem

While many root crops do well in cool weather, if they are not already established, incoming crops can be difficult for them to withstand. The bad combination of a cooling soil (vs fall where it still has some summer warmth), rainy weather, and lack of light makes most root crops subject to rotting instead of germinating. Because they are roots, they don’t typically do well with transplanting unless you like crooked carrots.

Other A-Maize-Ing Crops that Need to Wait

Cool beans is one of my favorite sayings, but not my favorite way to plant. Beans, corn and okra should all wait until ideally April. If you are in a warm area where your first frost is usually in March, you might be able to get away with starting in March, but for general guidance, wait until April. Otherwise it will be too cool for the seeds to germinate and they will rot.

Getting a Head Start Without the Headache

Whether you are champing at the bit to start seeds or you are waiting it out, the key point is to make sure you time everything out based on your last frost date. A handful of crops thrive with a long head start, while others are better left waiting for warmer soil and longer days. By focusing on what actually benefits from early sowing, you’ll save space, avoid frustration, and set your garden up for a smoother season ahead

Planning what to start is just the first step. If you want help choosing varieties, timing your starts, and building a simple seed-starting setup, check out my Seed Starting Guide for Home Gardeners and Plan Your Garden in January: The Best Time for Beginners

What are you starting this month?
I’d love to hear what you’re planting now—and what you’re waiting on. Share your January seed-starting plans in the comments.