Seed category guide
Vegetable seed categories by crop group
Commercial vegetable seed is sourced by crop group, because each group changes what the specification has to say. This page sets out the six groups buyers request most often and what each one adds to the request for quotation.
What are the main commercial vegetable seed categories?
Commercial vegetable seed divides into six sourcing groups: fruiting vegetables (tomato, pepper, eggplant), cucurbits (cucumber, melon, watermelon), brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli), alliums (onion, leek), root crops (carrot, beetroot, radish) and leafy crops and herbs. Each group changes the specification: quantity basis, seed treatment and sizing, resistance package, day-length or maturity group, and whether grafting or a pollinizer variety is required.
Fruiting vegetables
Tomato, sweet and hot pepper, eggplant
Cycle length and the resistance package decide the variety long before price does. Protected cropping normally uses indeterminate long-cycle hybrids; open-field and processing programmes use determinate types with a concentrated set.
- • State the recorded disease pressure so suppliers can match the resistance package
- • Confirm whether grafted plants are planned — rootstock seed is ordered separately
- • Quantities are usually quoted per 1,000 seeds, not per kilogram
Cucurbits
Cucumber, melon, watermelon, courgette, pumpkin
Fruit type and market grade drive variety choice: parthenocarpic greenhouse cucumber, field slicing types, seeded or seedless watermelon and the pollinizer ratio that goes with it.
- • Seedless watermelon requires a pollinizer variety and its own seed volume
- • Greenhouse cucumber varieties are usually parthenocarpic — field types underperform under cover
- • Grafting on cucurbit rootstock is common where soil-borne pressure is recorded
Brassicas
Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale
Maturity slot and head or curd specification govern the programme; staggered sowing across several maturity groups is normal to hold a continuous supply window.
- • Specify maturity days and the target head or curd size and weight
- • Several maturity slots usually means several varieties in one RFQ
- • Seed is often supplied primed or pelleted for precision sowing — state which
Alliums
Onion, shallot, leek
Day-length response is the first filter: short-, intermediate- and long-day onion varieties are not interchangeable, and the wrong group will not bulb at your latitude.
- • State latitude or the day-length group required, not only the country
- • Specify storage requirement — storage and fresh-market types differ
- • Precision drilling generally needs sized or pelleted seed
Root and bulb crops
Carrot, beetroot, radish, turnip
Root shape, length and uniformity are set by variety and by seed sizing, so the sizing grade belongs in the specification alongside germination.
- • Specify the seed sizing grade for precision drills
- • State whether the produce goes to fresh market, bunching or processing
- • Soil type and depth affect which root type can be grown out
Leafy vegetables and herbs
Lettuce, spinach, rocket, basil and other culinary herbs
Short cycles mean the sowing programme, not the single order, drives the seed volume. Hydroponic and baby-leaf systems use different varieties and different seed forms from head lettuce in soil.
- • Phase the volume against a sowing calendar rather than ordering once
- • Pelleted seed is standard for hydroponic and precision baby-leaf sowing
- • Bolting tolerance and heat set matter more than yield in warm seasons
Take a category into a request
Once the crop group is fixed, the checklist sets the fields and the document turns them into a structured request a sourcing specialist can review.
Questions
- How are commercial vegetable seed categories organised?
- Commercially they are grouped by crop family and production behaviour: fruiting vegetables, cucurbits, brassicas, alliums, root crops and leafy crops. Each group changes the specification — quantity basis, seed treatment, day-length or maturity requirements and whether grafting or pollinizers are involved.
- Do I need one RFQ per crop group?
- No. One request can cover several crops, provided each line carries its own variety type, quantity, packaging unit and delivery date. What must stay identical across suppliers is the Incoterm, the quantity basis and the delivery window.
- Is seed quoted per kilogram or per seed count?
- Both are used. Fruiting vegetables and hybrids are usually quoted per 1,000 seeds; open-pollinated field crops are commonly quoted by weight. Mixing the two bases within one RFQ is the most common reason quotes cannot be compared.
- Does SeedMatchGroup sell vegetable seed?
- No. It is a supplier-neutral, human-led sourcing platform. It does not produce, hold stock or resell seed, supplier details are not published, and all communication runs through SeedMatchGroup.
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SeedMatchGroup is a supplier-neutral, human-led sourcing platform for commercial agricultural projects. It does not produce, hold stock or resell seed, and it is not a lender.