What to Sow in October: Vegetables, Herbs & Flowers to Sow Now

October is the month most gardeners stop sowing — and the month that quietly decides how early next year starts. The soil is still a few degrees warmer than the air, but daylight is falling by around four minutes a day, and by the end of the month most of northern Europe is below the ten hours of light that plants need to keep growing. So October sowing is not about harvests this autumn. It is about three things: hardy crops that sit out the winter as small plants and race away in March, salads and herbs grown under glass or indoors, and flowers and perennials that actually want a winter outdoors before they germinate. Here is exactly what to sow in October, and where to sow it.

• Outdoors hardy annuals, wildflowers & green manures — first half only
• Cold frame winter salads, sweet peas, overwintering peas
• Windowsill herbs, microgreens & sprouts all month
• October rule sow for March, not for November

What changes between September and October

In September you could still sow outdoors and expect a small crop before Christmas. In October that window closes for almost everything. Seeds will still germinate in the first half of the month, but the seedlings then meet what we call the 10-hour daylight rule: with less than ten hours of light a day, growth effectively stops until February. A lettuce sown outdoors on 20 October will not be a lettuce before spring.

That sounds like a limitation. It is actually the opportunity. A hardy plant that goes into winter with its roots established resumes growth weeks before anything sown in spring can even be planted out. October sowings are the cheapest head start in gardening.

Vegetables to sow in October

• Winter salads under cover — corn salad, winter purslane, rocket and mizuna sown in a cold frame, greenhouse border or under a cloche in early October give a picking from November and again in early spring. Our guide to winter salad leaves beyond lettuce goes through each one, and winter lettuce covers the hardy lettuces.
• Overwintering spinach — hardy spinach varieties such as Winterreuzen and Viroflex, sown in the first week of October under cover, stand through winter and give the earliest leaves of 2027.
• Peas for an early crop — round-seeded peas are the hardiest type and can be sown in late October or November in mild areas with free-draining soil, or in deep pots or gutters in a cold frame. The pea growing guide explains why only round-seeded types survive this.
• Broad beans: know your variety — autumn sowing only works with very hardy types. The broad beans we stock are spring varieties, best sown under glass from January; our broad bean guide explains the timing honestly.
• Cress and fast leaves indoors — cress and the Asian greens will grow on any bright windowsill in October and give cut-and-come-again leaves within weeks.

What not to sow: anything that needs warmth or a long season — tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans, sweetcorn, and brassicas such as Brussels sprouts, which are sown in spring and picked now. Everything tagged for this month sits in the October sowing collection.

Herbs, microgreens and sprouts: the indoor October harvest

Indoors, October is a good month, not a quiet one. A bright windowsill still has enough light for leafy herbs. Parsley, chervil (including the winter type Vertissimo), coriander and chives all grow happily in pots; dill gives a crop of leaf. Basil is tagged for October too, but without a grow light it sulks from November — sow a small pot early in the month and use it quickly. Our guide to growing herbs indoors in winter covers light, watering and which pots to use.

For fresh greens that ignore day length entirely, grow microgreens and sprouts. Pea shoots, radish, mustard and mizuna are ready in 7–14 days on a tray; sprouting seeds such as mung bean, alfalfa and lentil need only a jar and three to five days. The organic sprouting range is certified organic. See how to grow microgreens and sprouts to get started.

Flowers to sow in October

This is where October earns its place in the calendar.

• Sweet peas, the classic October job — sweet peas sown in deep pots or root trainers in mid-October and overwintered in a cold frame make bigger roots and flower weeks earlier than spring sowings. Full method in how to grow sweet peas from seed.
• Hardy annuals, first fortnight only — cornflowers, nigella, calendula and poppies can still go in outdoors on light, well-drained soil in early October. After that, sow into modules and overwinter under cover — see autumn sowing hardy annuals.
• Wildflowers — October is one of the two best months to sow a wildflower meadow: many native wildflowers need winter cold to germinate, and yellow rattle must be sown in autumn.
• Perennials that need the cold — many perennial flowers germinate best after a spell of winter chill. Sow dianthus, lychnis, Shasta daisies and delphiniums in pots, cover with grit and leave them outside; our guide to perennials from seed and cold stratification explains why.
• Biennials, very last call — forget-me-nots and hollyhocks sown in early October under cover will still flower next year, if on smaller plants.

An October weekend: the order to work in

1. Clear the last summer crops Beans, courgettes and tomatoes out; leave flower seedheads for the birds — see what to leave standing.
2. Clean the glass Every bit of light counts now. A clean greenhouse or cold frame gains hours of useful light over winter.
3. Sow the outdoor jobs first Hardy annuals, wildflowers and green manures lose a little each day of delay.
4. Then the cold frame Winter salads, spinach, sweet peas in deep pots, peas in gutters.
5. Cover every empty bed Green manures sown in early October, a compost mulch, or cardboard for a no-dig bed.
6. Start a windowsill tray Microgreens or herbs — the harvest that keeps going all winter.

Early October or late October?

Common October sowing mistakes

• Sowing for a harvest this autumn — below ten hours of light, nothing sown now will crop before winter. Sow for spring.
• Sowing hardy annuals into cold, wet clay — losses over winter are high. Use modules in a cold frame instead.
• Bringing the cold-needing perennials indoors — seed that needs stratification will not germinate in a warm room. Leave the pots outside.
• Overwatering under cover — cool, damp compost rots seed and invites damping off. Water sparingly and ventilate on mild days.
• Autumn-sowing the wrong broad bean or pea — only the hardiest types survive winter; check the variety before you sow.
• Throwing away leftover seed — most packets keep for years if stored cool and dry. See how long seeds last.

Frequently asked questions

Is October too late to sow seeds?
Not for the right seeds. Hardy annuals, wildflowers, sweet peas, winter salads, overwintering spinach, round-seeded peas and cold-needing perennials all suit October. Indoor herbs, microgreens and sprouts can be sown any time.

What vegetables can I sow outdoors in October?
Very few, and only in the first half of the month: winter salads and spinach under cloches, and round-seeded peas in mild areas. Everything else is better in a cold frame, greenhouse or on the windowsill.

Can I sow sweet peas in October?
Yes — mid-October to early November is the traditional window. Sow in deep pots, keep them in a cold frame, and pinch out the tips when they have three or four pairs of leaves.

What should I do with empty beds in October?
Sow a green manure in the first week or two, or mulch with compost or leaves. Bare soil loses nutrients and structure over winter. Autumn leaves are also worth collecting to make leaf mould.

October is when the garden starts working on next year while you rest. A pot of sweet peas, a cloche of corn salad and a tray of pea shoots is enough to feel the difference in March. Browse all our vegetable seeds and flower seeds, check the flower sowing calendar, or explore the rest of our growing guides.