Identify vegetable seeds from a photo
Photograph the seeds spread on a plain surface and find out what they are, how to confirm it, and whether they are still worth planting.
Choose a seed photo
Drag a photo here, or tap to choose. JPG or PNG. A clear, close shot works best.
Start with the family, not the variety
Telling carrot from parsnip seed is genuinely hard. Telling an umbellifer seed from a brassica seed is easy, and it is usually all you need, because the family tells you how to grow it.
Carrot and parsnip are both small, flat, ribbed and brownish, and they are sown direct because they resent transplanting. Broccoli, cabbage, kale and radish seed are all round and brown, and they are all brassicas, so they all want the same soil and the same spacing.
Get the family right and the sowing decision takes care of itself.
The families and what their seed looks like
| Family | Vegetables | Seed look | Sowing note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brassicaceae | Broccoli, cabbage, kale, radish, turnip, rocket | Round, small, brown to black, smooth | Sow direct or transplant. All the same family |
| Apiaceae | Carrot, parsnip, celery, parsley, dill, fennel | Small, flat, ribbed, brownish, oval | Sow direct. Resent transplanting |
| Solanaceae | Tomato, capsicum, chilli, eggplant | Flat, pale, disc-like, up to 4mm | Sow in trays and transplant. Need warmth |
| Fabaceae | Beans, peas, broad beans | Large, smooth, round or kidney-shaped | Sow direct. Do not soak unless you know why |
| Cucurbitaceae | Cucumber, pumpkin, zucchini, melon | Flat, oval, pale cream, pointed at one end | Sow direct or in pots. Need warmth |
| Amaranthaceae | Beetroot, silverbeet, spinach | Irregular, knobbly, brown, clustered | Beetroot seed is a cluster of several seeds |
| Amaryllidaceae | Onion, leek, garlic | Small, black, irregular, angular | Short-lived. Buy fresh each year |
| Asteraceae | Lettuce, endive, chicory, sunflower | Small, flat, elongated, often with a feathery tip | Lettuce needs light to germinate |
The tests that settle it
- Smell them. Carrot seed smells distinctly of carrot. Celery and parsley seed smell of celery. Crush one between your fingers and the smell is unmistakable.
- Look at the shape. Flat and ribbed means umbellifer. Round and smooth means brassica. Flat and disc-like means solanum. Large and smooth means legume.
- Check for the feathery tip. Lettuce and chicory seed has a small feathery appendage at one end. Nothing else in the vegetable garden does.
- Look for clusters. Beetroot and silverbeet seed is actually a corky cluster of two to five seeds, which is why you always get several seedlings from one sowing.
- Compare against a known seed. Put a seed you can identify next to the mystery ones and compare the size and shape directly. It is more reliable than any description.
- Weigh them in your hand. Onion and leek seed is tiny and light. Bean seed is heavy enough that you can feel the difference immediately.
Are they still worth planting?
This is the question that matters most with old seed, and it has a real answer rather than a guess.
Put ten seeds on a damp paper towel, fold it, seal it in a plastic bag and leave it somewhere warm. Check every couple of days. After seven to fourteen days, count how many have sprouted. Eight out of ten and the seed is fine. Five out of ten and you should sow it more thickly. Two out of ten and it is not worth the space.
Different seeds keep for different lengths of time. Beans, peas and cucumbers keep for three to five years in cool dry conditions. Brassicas and tomatoes keep for four to five. Onions, leeks and parsnips are the difficult ones: parsnip seed is often useless after a single year, and onion seed loses vigour quickly.
Store seed somewhere cool, dark and dry, in a sealed jar or a paper envelope inside a plastic box. The fridge is good. A hot shed is not, and neither is a damp garage.
One rule that is not about identification
Never eat seed from a packet. Some vegetable seeds are treated with fungicide and are dyed bright pink or green to warn you, and others are simply toxic. Peas and beans from the kitchen are food; peas and beans from a seed packet are not.
If you are saving seed from your own plants, and you should, make sure it is from a non-hybrid variety, and label it immediately. The unlabelled box always starts with good intentions.
Everyone who gardens ends up with the same thing: a tin or a shoebox of seeds in unlabelled packets, some of them years old, and no memory of what went in there.
I have planted carrot seed that turned out to be parsnip, and radish seed that turned out to be turnip. Neither was a disaster, but both were avoidable if I had looked more carefully at the seed itself.
The good news is that seeds are more identifiable than they look, and the family is usually enough to stop you planting the wrong thing in the wrong place.
Frequently Asked Questions
Start with the family, which is usually enough. Look at the shape, colour, size and surface, then confirm with a smell test where it applies. Carrot and parsley seed smells strongly of carrot and parsley when crushed.