Vegetable Seeds per Ounce Chart
Typical seed counts per ounce for 30 vegetables, from about 30 for lima beans to about 25,000 for lettuce, and how to use them to turn a plant count into...
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Vegetable Seeds per Ounce Chart
Seed size varies over a thousand times between crops. An ounce of lettuce is about 25,000 seeds. An ounce of lima beans is about 30. Use the counts below to turn a plant count into a seed weight when you buy by the ounce.
Counts are typical. Large-seeded varieties can have half as many seeds per ounce, and small-seeded ones twice as many. The packet's seed count or weight is the number that counts.
The Seed Order Planner uses these counts to estimate weight for your order.
Seeds per Ounce
| Crop | About seeds per ounce |
|---|---|
| Lima beans | 30 |
| Snap beans, bush or pole | 100 |
| Garden peas | 125 |
| Sweet corn | 150 |
| Pumpkins | 150 |
| Summer and winter squash | 200 |
| Southern peas (cowpeas) | 200 |
| Watermelon | 400 |
| Okra | 500 |
| Cucumbers | 1,000 |
| Cantaloupe | 1,000 |
| Swiss chard | 1,500 |
| Beets | 1,600 |
| Radishes | 2,500 |
| Spinach | 2,800 |
| Peppers | 4,500 |
| Eggplant | 6,000 |
| Chinese cabbage and bok choy | 7,000 |
| Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower | 8,000 |
| Kale, collards, kohlrabi | 8,000 |
| Onions | 8,000 |
| Tomatoes | 10,000 |
| Leeks | 10,000 |
| Rutabaga | 10,000 |
| Turnips | 12,000 |
| Mustard greens | 15,000 |
| Carrots | 20,000 |
| Lettuce | 25,000 |
How to Use the Chart
- Count the plants you need for the year. See how many seeds to buy.
- Multiply by seeds per plant: about 1.5 for transplants and large seed, 2 for squash and melons, 3 for small seed you thin.
- Divide by seeds per ounce.
Example: 160 bush bean plants x 1.5 = 240 seeds. 240 / 100 = about 2.4 oz.
Packet or Bulk
Small-seeded crops such as tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, and carrots rarely need more than one packet for a home garden. Beans, peas, and sweet corn are the crops where bulk seed saves money, because a family planting several rows can use several ounces.
Seed you do not use keeps for later years if stored cool and dry. See how long vegetable seeds last.
Sources: Virginia Cooperative Extension 426-331, Virginia's Home Garden Vegetable Planting Guide (seed per 10 feet of row); Oklahoma State University Extension HLA-6004, Oklahoma Garden Planning Guide.