What to plant in January in England is mostly a job for indoors: the RHS suggests onion seed in a heated propagator, and early lettuce, spinach, salad onions, turnips, summer cabbage and cauliflower sown indoors in seed compost. Outside, the soil is too cold for most sowing, so January is the month to plan your beds, buy seed potatoes and warm the soil under cover for the first spring sowings.
The RHS and Gardeners' World advice below is kept separate from what Sowstory plans. In a Sowstory plan, no crop starts in the bed in January.
At a glance: what to plant in January
| Task | Crops | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sow indoors or under cover | Onion seed with heat; early lettuce, spinach, salad onions, turnips, summer cabbage, cauliflower; chillies and aubergines with heat | RHS, Gardeners' World |
| Sow outdoors | Nothing for most gardens; broad beans in pots under cold cover in mild areas only | RHS |
| Plant out | Nothing starts in the bed in a Sowstory plan | Sowstory |
| Harvest | Leeks, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, curly and standard kale | Sowstory harvest windows |
For every month in one place, see the vegetable sowing calendar for England.
Sow indoors
January sowings need light and, for some crops, steady warmth. Gardeners' World points out that low winter light combined with warm rooms gives weak seedlings that are prone to damping off, so sow small batches and give them the brightest spot you have.
- Onions from seed. The RHS suggests a heated propagator; Gardeners' World gives about 10–16°C.
- Early salads and brassicas. The RHS lists lettuce, spinach, salad onions, turnips, summer cabbage and cauliflower, sown indoors in peat-free seed compost for early crops.
- Chillies and aubergines. Gardeners' World sows them in a heated propagator at 21°C, dropping to 16–18°C once they germinate. Sowstory's window for outdoor chillies runs from February to April indoors at about 21°C, so January is early for a plant that will not go into the bed until June.
- Cauliflower. Sowstory's summer and autumn cauliflower profile has a sowing window from January to June, with plants going into the bed in May or June.
Gardeners' World also mentions basil at about 20°C. Sowstory's basil window starts later, from March to May indoors, with plants going out in June once nights stay above 10°C.
Sow or plant outdoors
For most of England, nothing is sown direct into the bed in January.
- Broad beans, mild areas only (RHS advice). The RHS suggests sowing them in pots in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse. Gardeners' World adds that outside mild areas you should wait until March. Sowstory does not plan this route: its dwarf broad bean ('The Sutton') is sown direct in March or April, with no protected winter sowing.
- Garlic. Sowstory's garlic window closes in December. The RHS lists garlic again in February, on light soil only. If your autumn planting slipped, see when to plant garlic.
In a Sowstory plan this month
No crop profile starts in the bed in January in a Sowstory plan. The first sowings and plantings in the bed are in March, when 15 profiles open up, from early carrots and radish to onion sets and first early potatoes.
What is in the bed now is last year's long-season crops. Sowstory's harvest windows for leeks (November to February), parsnips (October to February), Brussels sprouts (September to February) and standard kale (September to March) all run through January, and autumn-planted garlic keeps its rows for about 36 weeks from planting.
That makes January the best time to plan the bed rather than plant it: decide what you will grow, check the spacing and make sure tall crops will not shade the rest. Our raised bed layout guide walks through it by hand.
If you would rather not work it out on paper, Sowstory lays out your bed to scale, tells you how many plants or rows fit and gives you a month-by-month timing plan for the season ahead. It is coming soon to the App Store, and your first bed plan is free.
Sowstory's months are the same across England; they are not adjusted to your postcode, and the app does not give a frost date for your address.
Jobs this month
The RHS January jobs are mostly about preparing for spring:
- Warm seedbeds under cloches, cold frames or fleece, ready for early sowings.
- Improve heavy soil by adding organic matter, and work from a plank on wet ground so you do not compact it.
- Plan crop rotation, buy seed potatoes and save egg boxes for chitting. The RHS says chitting can start from late January in milder areas; see how to grow potatoes.
- Pick Brussels sprouts from the bottom of the stem upwards.
- Net brassicas against pigeons.
- Do not home-compost material infected with blight, white rot or rust.
What not to sow yet
- Outdoor sowings in cold, wet soil. The RHS limits even February outdoor sowing to light, sandy soil in mild areas, and says to wait for March or April elsewhere.
- Tomatoes. The RHS starts greenhouse tomatoes from late February and outdoor ones from late March; Sowstory's outdoor cordon tomato window is March to April indoors.
- Tender crops outside. Tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, beans and basil go into the bed only once frost risk has passed, which the RHS puts between the first half of May on the south coast and early June in north-east England. Our guide to the last frost in your area explains how to judge it.
Last month's list is in what to plant in December; next month, see what to plant in February.
Sources
- RHS: Grow your own, January jobs
- RHS: Grow your own, February jobs
- RHS: How to grow potatoes
- RHS: How to grow onions
- RHS: How to grow tomatoes
- RHS: When to plant out tender plants
- BBC Gardeners' World: What to plant in January
- BBC Gardeners' World: How to grow onions
- Sowstory knowledge base, release v1.4