You want a thriving garden and you know you need to be patient to achieve it, but you also want to see the fruits of your labor as soon as possible.
Not only do fast-growing plants give you a confidence boost because it’s so great to see them grow, but they will also help to transform your garden within a few weeks.
Luckily, there are quite a few plants that will grow very fast so that you don’t have to spend a lot of time and effort working on your garden without something to keep you motivated.
What’s the fastest-growing plant?
Certain species of bamboo hold the record for being the fastest-growing plants. They can grow up to about 35 inches every day, as Guinness World Record reports.
That’s pretty amazing, but you don’t need a plant to be a record holder in order for it to make your garden thrive!
If you’re interested in having quick results in your garden, you’ll love these 12 plants that grow fast. Whether you want to grow fresh produce, flowers, or succulents, this list offers some great picks for you that you’ll want to grow ASAP.
If you’d like to see a graphical breakdown of the fast growing garden plants, we got you covered:
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Table of Contents
Top Vegetables And Fruits That Grow Quickly
Everyone should be growing some of their own produce. Not only will this be a healthy and sustainable way to nourish yourself and your family, but you’ll also save some money.
So, let’s start our list by focusing on some fresh produce you can grow easily and quickly. Go from garden to table in a flash with these top picks!
Radishes
If you want to start growing your own produce to eat, you’ll want to put radishes at the top of your list. They’re not only fast-growing veggies – they take only a few weeks to reach harvest – but they’re really easy to plant.
You can plant radish seeds in the spring or fall, but once they are mature you have to pull them out of the ground immediately. This is something that some gardeners fail to do and it can result in less-than-optimal produce.
Once they’re out of the ground, store the radishes in plastic storage bags in your fridge and make sure you enjoy them within two weeks.
Salad Leaves
Salad leaves are crunchy, delicious, and perfect for a variety of meals. Best of all, they grow very fast. You’re looking at a growth rate of 21 days from when you sow their seeds.
When they’re ready to be picked, make sure you pick the outside leaves first so that the other leaves will be able to continue to grow. Cut a few leaves at a time and do so often to keep the plant thriving.
A pro tip if you want to have lots of lettuce is to make sure you plant new salad leaves every 14 days. This will give you a regular supply of leaves throughout the season.
Scallions
If you grow scallions from seeds, they will be ready to be eaten in just 21 days! The best way to harvest them when they’re ready is to cut them instead of pulling them completely out of the ground.
So, just keep an eye out for their green shoots. When you see that they have reached about six or seven inches in height, then cut them above the soil and add them to your meals. Scallions are perfect for beginner gardeners to grow because they’re resistant to frost.
Snap Beans
If you want to grow your own beans, you’ll love that snap beans (otherwise known as green beans) are low-maintenance plants to look after.
They don’t experience many pests and by planting your green bean seeds in the late spring, you’ll be able to harvest them about six or seven weeks later. Just like with salad leaves, you can also plant snap bean seeds every 14 days to ensure that you get a continuous harvest.
Arugula
Arugula, otherwise known as rocket, is one of the fastest growing leafy greens. You can harvest it about four weeks after you’ve planted the seeds.
Make sure you plant the seeds in fall or spring, and when you’re ready to harvest the plant pick a few leaves if you want to extend the harvest season. Alternatively, you can pull the entire plant and use it in one go.
When you want to pick your arugula, you should only do this when the temperature is cool. Avoid picking it when the temperature is hot as that can cause it to wilt much faster. You should also be sure to pick it before it flowers to prevent it from tasting bitter.
Cucumber
The thought of growing cucumber in your garden might feel daunting, especially if you’re a beginner gardener, but you don’t have to worry. Cucumber is pretty easy to grow.
You just have to ensure that your cucumber plants get full sun and have moist soil. Cucumber plants can harvest within six weeks! Just make sure you harvest them every few days to prevent the fruits from becoming too large as that can make them taste bitter.
Flowering Plants That Grow Quickly
Now that you know what fresh produce you can grow easily and quickly, let’s move onto flowers. As you probably know, it’s important to have some flowering plants in the garden that grow fast.
This will ensure that your garden has lots of color and texture and will make you want to spend more time outside. So, if you’re giving your garden a makeover and want to ensure that it can quickly start filling up with beautiful blooms, here are some flowering plants that will grow to your heart’s content.
Zinnias
These colorful flowers are one of the fastest growing garden plants – you’ll see them burst into life within just six or seven years after you plant them in your garden.
They grow for a whole season and look a bit like daisies. You just need to make sure that they are planted in full sunlight and have soil that drains well. One of the best things about zinnias is that they’re not just a colorful addition to your garden but they attract butterflies.
Sunflowers
These regal-looking, mood-boosting flowers might seem like they’re difficult to maintain, but they’re actually pretty easy for beginners. Just make sure you’re ready for them and have enough space in your garden because they’ll grow up to six feet in height after just 12 weeks of being planted!
Sunflower plants need full sunlight in order to thrive, but they’re also hardy and resistant to the cold, which is something that’s often not known about them.
Marigolds
These flowers grow in beautiful shades of orange, red, and yellow, so it’s not surprising that so many people love to plant them in their gardens. However, you just have to make sure you that you deadhead them regularly so that they will continue to bloom throughout the hot months.
Deadheading means that you should remove the dead flowers from the plant. This stimulates the flowers to grow. After you plant marigolds in your flower beds, you’ll see them bloom within just eight weeks!
What further makes these beautiful flowers so worth having in your garden is that they only need to be watered regularly. As long as they’re in a lot of sun, they can take care of themselves, requiring you not to have to worry about them.
Petunias
These bright and bold flowering plants can display their buds within 10 weeks after you’ve sown their seeds. They attract bees and butterflies to your garden, while also being excellent companion plants.
This means that they can be planted next to produce such as grapes, corn, basil, and tomatoes and will actually help them to grow in healthy ways. The reason for this is because they are highly pest resistant! If your garden is overrun by pests, it’s a good idea to plant more petunias.
Sweet Alyssum
After you sow the seeds of this pretty flowering plant, they will sprout within seven to 14 days. What makes sweet alyssum so easy to grow is that you don’t need to use fertilizer unless your soil is in poor condition.
It’s a pretty low maintenance plant, and this is further shown by how it’s hardy so it can deal with drought and extreme heat conditions.
Sweet alyssum can be used in a variety of different ways to boost the appearance of your garden, such as by filling empty spots with their overflowing and abundant flowers or by using them as ground cover for other plants.
You’ll love how their tiny purple, pink, or white flowers give your garden a burst of color and emit a lovely sweet scent.
What’s The Fastest-Growing Succulent?
Succulents are great plants to have in your garden. They’re especially great for you if you don’t have green fingers or don’t have much time to work in the garden but want it to look interesting. Succulents provide texture and beauty, and they’re pretty hardy.
They can deal with lots of different weather conditions so you don’t have to worry about them too much. One type of succulent that grows quickly is kalanchoe.
There are many different types of kalanchoe, with some of the types that grow the fastest including kalanchoe tubiflora and kalanchoe daigremontiana. After you’ve planted their seeds, they will grow within a few weeks.
They also thrive without much fuss. If you have just one two-inch plant in your garden, it will produce over a dozen new plants that will grow quickly within a year. As a nice bonus, kalanchoe displays flowers in a range of bold colors, such as red, yellow, pink, and orange.
Generally, if you own succulents you can make them grow faster just by knowing some hacks to help you look after them. One of the most effective tips is to separate your succulent plant so that every individual plant can have more access to resources, such as sun and water, which will enable it to thrive.
Tips For Encouraging Plant Growth
No matter what plants you own, you can ensure that they are healthy and will thrive so that they look beautiful by paying attention to the basics, such as how much sun and water they need.
But, you can also do some important things to make them healthy and this could even help to make them grow faster.
Remember, though: what matters more than having fast-growing plants in the garden is to ensure that every plant you put into the ground will grow well! Here are some tips to keep your plants as healthy as possible so that they can grow better and maybe even a little quicker.
Put Banana Peels In The Soil
You might throw out those banana peels when you’ve eaten bananas, but stop doing that. Take the peels and chop them up, then put them into the soil that you’re using to grow green peppers, tomatoes, or even your roses.
The reason why banana peels work so well to make your plants healthy is that they contain phosphorus and potash. This adds nutrients to the soil that will benefit the plants.
Throw Coffee Grounds Over The Soil
Coffee grounds might not seem like much, but they have lots of important nutrients that will help your plants to grow. This includes nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium.
However, bear in mind that coffee grounds increase the acid content of soil, so rather stick to using them for plants that like acidic soil, such as roses, azaleas, and evergreen plants.
It’s really easy to use coffee grounds on your soil: all you need to do is scatter some coffee grounds at the plant base and they’ll do the rest of the work.
Use Your Grass Clippings On Veggies
If you’re growing vegetables, you want to make use of your grass clippings to encourage their growth, so don’t throw them out! Grass clippings are so beneficial because they enable plants to maintain their moisture while also blocking weeds which can be a nuisance for your plants.
Just apply a thin layer of clippings to the garden, but make sure that they don’t contain weed seeds otherwise that will be counterintuitive.
Make Sure You Grow Seedlings Indoors
When you plant seeds in seasons other than spring, make sure that you grow them inside instead of directly planting them in the garden.
By allowing them to sprout indoors, a process that will take between a month and three months, and then transferring them into the garden, the plants will grow faster than if you sow the seeds in the garden from the start.
How much faster?
Up to four or six weeks faster, as Mercola reports, which is quite phenomenal!
Pro tip: when growing your seeds indoors, make sure you put them outside for a few hours a day so that they can get used to the sunlight.
Related Questions
One of the biggest causes of a lack of growth in these plants is not enough direct sun. You should aim for at least eight hours of direct sun every day as this is one of the most important essentials.
Some common symptoms of stunted growth in plants include curled or limp leaves. Sometimes the leaves can even drop off.
It depends on what’s causing it. If it’s a lack of sun, give the plant more light. If it’s a lack of water or too much, make sure you only give the plant the water it needs. Also make sure the plant’s pot or container isn’t so small that it’s causing its roots not to move further into the soil.
Conclusion
If you’re just starting out in gardening or you don’t have much time to dedicate to your gardening hobby, there are many plants that will grow quickly and without much effort on your part.
In this article, we’ve featured the top veggie and fruit plants, flowering plants, and succulents that will reach harvest quickly and provide your garden with eye-catching visual appeal within a few weeks.
We’ve also looked at things you can do to encourage healthier plants and possibly even quicker harvest times in your garden. There’s no doubt about it: healthy plants will transform your garden into something amazing, and will also be easier to maintain once you’ve given them a good start.
